Harry Potter 1. Prologue

A Harry Potter Fan fiction

Title: A Cursed Blessing

Author: SpacyRicochet

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Not really, maybe when needed.

Notes:

This story got removed from FF.net some weeks ago, with their notification email stating that is was 'In the wrong category'. Now, I'm fairly sure that writing in a Harry Potter setting constitutes it as being Harry Potter fanfiction, which justifies it being in the 'Books Harry Potter' category, even though the original main characters only play little roles in this fanfiction. Now, if anyone can rectify this, please let me know, as FF.net is not replying to my email I sent to their support. 

My previous rating was G, which I think is the actual reason the story got removed, but FF.net's email was very, very unclear about this. So if I'm breaking any rules, let me know. Now the rating is PG-13 (which the story deserves, just forgot to reset it previously). 

Anyway, I already got chapters written, but I won't post them all at once, to see what other people think about the story. So, read this, review if you like. I'll be posting more soon.

All the standard disclaimers apply… don't really know why I'm even typing this line. Everyone types them… at every chapter… such a waste of bandwidth.

A Cursed Blessing

**_Prologue_**

The doctors quickly rushed down the stairs and as he came down to the entrance level, the orderlies were already rushing in two patients. The man and woman were drenched in blood, their clothes torn and cuts and bruises covering their bodies. 

"What happened?"

"They were in a car accident! We haven't been able to stabilize either of them and it seems the woman is already 8 months pregnant!"

"Damn… get them to the emergency room. We'll have to save what we can."

…

…

…

**_Where am I?_**

The woman looked around herself and found she didn't recognize where this place could be. She was lying amidst a rocky landscape under what seemed to be a blue sun. Surely this wasn't a place on earth. With no strength to stand up or even move, she just lay there with her hands on her swollen stomach, wondering.

**_Am I dead yet, then? Is this my afterlife?_**

She looked next to her and saw her husband lying serenely next to her. There was no indication that he was awake or alive. 

**_I'll meet you when I've passed on as well, my love. I'm so sorry that neither of us could've looked into our child's eyes at least once._**

She let a tear fall from her eyes, mourning her dead love.

_~~ Now this is sad… ~~ _

A low growling voice startled her from her grieving and she looked to her other side. There she saw two creatures she had never seen before. A black wolf with piercing red eyes was laying lazily some way from her, looking curiously at the couple. Next to the wolf sat a blond fox. His nine tails swished around in what seemed like a graceful dance.

_** Indeed… And here we thought that both of us favoring one of them would be a problem. **_

This time a rather high-singsong voice resonated in her head. The woman noticed that she was hearing them, even though they weren't even talking.

_~~ Yes, but those worries were unfounded. But, even though it's their time to go, it pains me to not see the child she carries be born. ~~_

**_My child… it will die with me…_**

The woman let more tears leave her eyes, regretting that she would never ever see her unborn child.

_** I don't think that it will be much of a problem to simply save the child, though. ** _

The fox sounded mischievous and the woman even thought that she could see the fox grin.

_~~ I suppose we could. I do know there's no stopping you anyway. But you realize that we'll make its life extremely difficult if we go through with this? Not to mention the amount of rule breaking we're about to get ourselves into. ~~_

The wolf was obviously trying to talk some sense into the fox, even though it was apparent that the fox wouldn't listen anyway. The woman couldn't believe it… these creatures would be able to save her child. She wanted to shout at them to save it, begging them for it, but she was too weak.

_** It seems the woman wants us to save the child as well. **_

_~~ Yes… then let us do it. Besides, it's my duty as the Rayon's family spirit to ensure their line doesn't die out. ~~_

**_Rayon? My Tristan's family name?_**

_** Actually, it isn't. But I'll just say it's my duty as the Warren's family spirit to keep her line alive as well. Just too bad that little Melinda here didn't keep her name when she married. **_

**_Warren_****_? My family had a spirit? What are they talking about?_**

Then the two beasts walked over to the girl and both gave a lick over her stomach. The woman could feel a sudden burst of energy going through her entire body, centering over her unborn child. The woman felt a relaxation flow over her, knowing that her child would make it. Now she felt that her child's safety was the only thing holding her back from passing on to the afterlife, to her husband. She let go of her life and her soul drifted away, but not before hearing the wolf's last words to her.

_~~ Just thought you'd like to know… it's a boy. Congratulations. ~~_

The woman cried tears of happiness as she was enveloped by her husband's arms in the place where they now both belonged.

…

…

…

The doctors weren't able to save the couple that came in from that accident. But they were able to save the boy that was growing in the woman's belly. They were amazed that he wouldn't need any extra support in staying alive, even though he was forcibly extracted a month before he was supposed to be born and after that huge accident. He was put in a bed in the maternity ward. It was late at night now and they would think about how to deal with the child in the morning.

However, one doctor came back to the ward. He was out of his professional outfit and stood looking over the child in his casual clothes. He produced an ebony wand from his coat and swished once, then flicking it in the direction of the boy, while muttering something that sounded like an incantation. Immediately the boy began to radiate a little bit of light-blue light around his body, that lasted for about five seconds. The doctor looked satisfied and headed out of the hospital, going to get a night's sleep and making sure he handled the matter properly in the morning.


	2. Going to school?

Notes:

Yes, I know I don't have reviews yet. The review replies at the bottom of the page are those that I received when I first posted the story. See the previous chapter notes for the explanation of that. Anyway, I'll keep my old review replies and reply to any new ones at every chapter, so happy reading. And review if you like, I appreciate those.

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**Chapter 1: Going to school?**

      It was a nice summer day with a warm sun and some puffy clouds moving along the blue sky. A nice breeze was blowing over the landscape, making it seem like the grass flowed like a calm river and making leaves in the trees rustle.

      Gabriel Rayon lay in the midst of the quiet scenery, gazing at sky. He quite liked lying in the middle of nowhere, there were less scents to disturb him. Out here, it just smelled like grass and forest.

      *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

      The tranquility was disturbed as Gabriel's watch alarm went off.

      "Dinner time then… dammit, I just got myself comfortable. Ah well… Since we're having meat, I guess it's a good thing anyway."

      Gabriel's voice had already changed with his age, having a low tone and an almost growling quality. Now at fourteen years old, his light blond hair flowed straight down to his shoulders. His blue eyes shined dully, but were hard to notice because he had his eyes half-closed, walking lazily across the field back to his home. He usually wasn't this quiet, but on occasion he'd seek out a spot where no one would disturb him.

      Good thing he didn't have to walk far, his home being situated near the field in one of the suburbs of London. He walked a little across the streets until he came at a white house with mostly green windows and doors. The garden was filled with plants and flowers instead of the usual grass lawn. A mini cooper was parked in the driveway next to the house.

      "I'm home!" Gabriel yelled as he stepped through the front door. 

      He could already smell the pork chops his mother was making. He quickly swallowed some saliva that was gathering in his mouth, so that he wouldn't drool. He took off his shoes and walked into the kitchen to greet his mother.

      His mother, Rachel, was a tad smaller than Gabriel and seemed quite young to be a mother. She had her black hair, which normally was flowing, in a bun at the back of her head, so it wouldn't interfere with her cooking.

      "Hey, Gabi." His mother always teased Gabriel with that name.

      "Come on, mom. You know I hate being called that. It sounds so girly." Gabriel shuddered a bit at that.

      "Well, it's not my fault people think you're a girl when they first see you. You're the one that insists on keeping your hair long."

      "Well, it wouldn't be as bad if you stopped calling me 'Gabi'."

      "Hush. Dinner is ready, so sit down and eat up. You do realize I made your favorite?"

      Gabriel nodded and sat down. He patiently waited until his mother filled his plate and hers and then they both started to eat together. Gabriel soon was gulfing down his chops and the question could only be if he even chewed them before swallowing. Even so, he was still in his quiet mood, which didn't go unnoticed by Rachel.

      "You're being quiet again, Gabi." Her voice interrupted his current trail of thought. "A penny for your thoughts?"

      Gabriel sighed. Sometimes his mother could be way too perceptive and he knew what the outcome of this conversation would be. Again.

      "The new school year is going to begin soon." He didn't sound too happy about that, like he was starting an argument he knew he lost before he even began it.  But both knew that he'd do anything to be able to enter a normal school.

      "Honey, you know why you're not going to school, even though you've been accepted to it for the last three years."

      "I know. But I really still want to go. I've been home schooled for three years already. Frankly, it's starting to get boring. I want to meet more people than just from this neighborhood."

      Rachel was about to say something, when there was a tapping noise on at the window. They both looked at it, knowing perfectly well what it would be. A pretty barn owl was trying to get their attention to open the window. Rachel finally relented and let the little owl in. She took the letter, gave a quick glance over it and grabbed a quill to write a reply on the back. She finished rather quickly and sent the owl back 

      Gabriel surrendered with a big sigh. He wouldn't be joining the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry this year as well. He continued eating his dinner, since not even an earthquake would separate him and his meal, but his thoughts were wandering once again.

_      Dammit. Why the hell did I have to be the one that was born cursed? I mean, it's nice that I have a better smell than most and that my reflexes are good. But I really, really hate it when I lose control… … I guess the reason why I can't join a regular school is valid though._

      He finished eating his dinner and cleaned up his plates. Normally, he would've waited until his mother was finished and help her clean up, but he wasn't feeling all that helpful right now. He walked out of the kitchen and already was halfway up the stairs when he heard a knock on the door.

      "I'll get it!"

      Gabriel opened to door to see who it was and was confronted with a very elderly looking person. He had a long, almost white beard and long white hair. He was dressed in robes with some arcane symbol on them and wore a pointy hat.

      "Can I come in, Gabriel?" The man's voice was cheerful, perfectly matching the twinkle he had in his eyes.

      Gabriel then noticed that the barn owl that came to the window was sitting on the man's shoulder.

_      "This must be someone from Hogwarts then!" _Gabriel thought. He stepped aside and held the door open, so the stranger could get past him inside the house. "Sure, come in," he said, for once having real hope of entering Hogwarts. The man couldn't be here just for some chitchat with the person that wouldn't be entering school again, could he?

      "Now, Gabriel, if you could tell your mother that Albus Dumbledore has arrived and would like to see her, then I guess we can talk your reply to our letter over."

      "Okay, Mr. Dumbledore." Gabriel agreed excitedly.

      "No need for formalities yet, Gabriel. Call me Albus for now. But when we are finished here, I think you should be calling me Headmaster."

      "Right, Albus." Gabriel couldn't help but grin at the last statement. It seemed like Dumbledore was going to insist that he entered Hogwarts. Gabriel finally had a real chance to go to Hogwarts and he was getting excited.

      Dumbledore smiled at the answer of the kid. But when Gabriel grinned, Albus noticed something odd. Gabriel had an almost feral grin and two of his upper teeth stuck out a bit more than they were supposed to. They almost looked like little fangs. But he looked quite the opposite of threatening, being quite amicable.

      "Yo, mom! Albus Dumbledore is here to see you."

      His mother stopped cleaning the dishes, looking quite surprised at the sudden visit. She dried her hands and took her hair out of her bun, preferring to look that way when around visitors. She took off her apron and went to the hall to greet her visitor.

      "Hello, Headmaster," she said, before realizing that she wasn't even a student anymore and that calling Dumbledore headmaster was a habit of hers. One that she really should stop.

      "No need to be so formal, Rachel. You're not even a student anymore." Dumbledore let a smile form while he looked at the woman that once studied at his school. Compared to him, she was still a young girl even though she had grown, physically and mentally. "Now, I received your reply to Gabriel's invitation to join Hogwarts. Now, declining four times already seems a tad severe, don't you think?"

      Rachel gave a big sigh. Dumbledore probably already knew a lot, but she was going to play dumb anyway.

      "Come, Albus. You realize that it's our decision if we want to send Gabriel to Hogwarts. I'd miss him way too much if he were gone for the most of the year. And we've got a good home teacher so that Gabi won't fall behind and will still be able to take his O.W.L.s." 

      Gabriel's mother finished that whole bit in one breath, as if she was practicing it everyday, so that she would know what to say when someone asked her about it.

      "I see." Albus didn't even flinch, already expecting this answer. So he changed the subject. "And how's Mr. Senner?"

      "Daniel?" Rachel was surprised at the sudden subject change, but decided that Albus had given up and was starting plain small talk. "Oh, he's fine, though I still think that the hospital is demanding way too much from him. It gets annoying to eat without him, even though he still tries to be here whenever he can."

      "It's always too bad that a parent can't spend that much time with his child." Albus said. He then turned to Gabriel. "But it seems as though both of your parents love you dearly, isn't it so Gabriel?" 

      Gabriel nodded. His biological parents died in a car crash before he was born. Rachel had told him that his adoptive father didn't manage to save them, but that he managed to let him be born. And when Daniel learned that Gabriel was magical, he adopted the child, since Rachel couldn't conceive any children of their own.

      "And I love both of them." Gabriel gave a smile as he said that. But he was still wondering if he would be able to join Hogwarts. It almost seemed as if Dumbledore had given up on persuading his mother.

      Dumbledore nodded and continued. "But you still would like to join Hogwarts more than anything, right? And I realize what the real reason is that your parents won't let you enter." Seeing Gabriel's and Rachel's dumbfounded and worried look, made Dumbledore wanting to assure them. "Please, don't worry. I'm the only one that knows about this, not even the Hogwarts staff knows, even though I don't think you'd have to keep it a secret."

      Now Gabriel was completely confused. "How did you find out about my curse? And even so, if you know about it, shouldn't you be happy that I won't go to Hogwarts? I mean, considering what happened last time…" Gabriel bit his lip remembering what he did. He never wanted to go through that again. 

      _Maybe not going to school would be better now._

      "You consider what you have a curse? Perhaps it is, but I still think that it's too soon to draw that conclusion. And as I've concluded, you've got yourself under good control now, don't you? Though the methods you sometimes use to keep control still  require some more finesse."

      Gabriel's mind was racing. _Damn, he knew about that as well? Isn't there anything that he didn't know about?_

"We could help you with control if you would enter Hogwarts. And it would be a good chance for you to be under more magical children your age. Isn't that what you want the most?"

      Gabriel perked up on that. "You could teach me better control? And I could be with more magical children? That would be great!"

      Rachel gave a loud sigh. The conversation had turned from her and she still wanted her say in this as well. But she already had made up her mind when she saw Gabriel last reaction. Refusing now would cause a lot of pain to her son and no loving parent wanted to cause that. "I guess there is little for me to say anymore. And convincing your father won't be much of a problem, since he was mostly for the idea anyway. But you have to take real good care of my son, Albus. Else you know I'll be shoving something hot and sharp where it doesn't belong, my former headmaster or not."

      Dumbledore eyes twinkled even more madly when she heard his former student being so protective of her son. And Gabriel snorted when he produced a mental image of what she was threatening.

      But Rachel turned to Gabriel, clearly annoyed her threat was taken so lightly by both. "And you have to realize this'll be your decision. Say the word, do you want to go to Hogwarts or not?." Realizing she sounded a bit harsh, she added in a gentler tone. "You know what might happen and I don't want you to be hurt again, sweetie."

      Gabriel wasn't really paying attention anymore though. He was sniffing the air with a  renewed interest. Suddenly his eyes widened in fear and he excused himself rather bluntly and took off running towards the kitchen door. Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow at Gabriel's sudden behavior and his mother just let out a knowing, exasperated sigh. 

      Gabriel now opened the door and aimed to get outside. But then he was thrown back in the kitchen, as if something launched itself at him and knocked him over. Gabriel skidded a bit over the kitchen floor, looking at the red shape that was upon him,  which then declared itself ominously.

"I finally caught you! Prepare to suffer my wrath!"

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Author's notes (which I didn't do in the prologue… but then I realized I had reviewers…):

First off… I want to thank both my proofreaders, Orthogon and [50-50]. They read my chapters when they are still horrible and disgusting and then help me improve them.

Second, a thanks to my reviewers.

· **gummie****-bare****, norfintrollgirl, darkmoon-on-dragonwings, Fireblade K'Chona: Thanks for the encouragement ^_^ hope you like the first chapter.**

· **Back2thechaos:** Nope, the professor wasn't Dumbledore. I don't really know if it came out right, but it was his current adoptive father, Daniel.

· **RubeeTabs**: **Hmm, you have a point there… from now on all the lazy reviewers which don't want to sign in, can review anyway! Oh, and those that don't write stories here (yet) can review too. I like reviews ^-^**

Third, I didn't exactly plan this story out. That means I have a general idea of where this is going and what the plotline should be. It's by no means fleshed out, so bear with me. It's my first story ^_^ 

Oh, and this chapter was so long… about 2000 pages. And I suddenly realize that's what I used to write in a forum rpg almost daily. I must have been mad . MAD, I TELL YOU!


	3. The best friend

**Chapter 2: The best friend…**

      Gabriel lay helplessly on the ground, stunned by the surprise of being caught and thrown to the floor. The red shape on top of him was reaching for his neck. The hands grabbed him by the collar and… she started shaking poor Gabriel's head around furiously.

      "You meanie! Trying to escape while I go through all the trouble to visit you."

      The red haze turned out to be the red hair of a girl. Her face was accentuated by her freckles and her piercing green eyes. She was wearing blue, faded jeans and a short, yellow tanktop which showed off her flat stomach. Another thing that was noticeable about her was a big scar on her side, which went from the right side of her stomach all the way to her back, vanishing under her tanktop.

      "Meanie! Meanie! Meanie! Meanie! Mea… Hey, you've got a visitor."

      Dumbledore just sat quietly at the table, smiling widely and his eyes twinkling as he looked at the pair on the ground. Rachel just held her head in one hand and gave a groan. The redheaded girl let go of Gabriel, who by now was still stunned by her sudden appearance. She stood up, dusted her jeans a bit with her hands and walked to Dumbledore. 

      "Hello, pleased to meet you. My name is Julia Connor." She said in a neat, courteous voice. 

      Dumbledore was pleased with the good manners and took her hand to give it a polite shake. "And I'm pleased to meet you as well, Julia. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm here to talk to Gabriel and his mother about his admission to Hogwarts."

      "Eh? Gabriel's finally going to Hogwarts then?" It took a little while for Julia to grasp the fact. Her eyes widened and she suddenly sounded a lot more elated. "That's great! He's been wanting to go to Hogwarts for years now."

      "Indeed. But the decision is still his to make. But it seems that he won't be able to give an answer right now, seeing as he's still lying on the floor in shock."

      "Gah!" Julia sped over to Gabriel and began to shake him around again. "Hey, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!..." Both Gabriel and Julia were too busy to notice Dumbledore get up.

      He turned to Rachel and said: "Well, I'm still very busy, Rachel, so I must depart now. I'll be expecting an owl from Gabriel soon and I'll be hoping that it will be a positive response." Rachel began walking with him towards the front door, leaving the nutty kids to maiming each other.

      "He'll have to think it through. He's been trying to get my permission for years now and I don't think it really seeped in yet. But Julia will be a big help, she always is." Rachel showed a small smile at the thought of those two being friends.

      Dumbledore looked a bit more serious when she said that. He was now standing by the front door, ready to depart. "Julia… she's the one from the incident, the reason he wasn't allowed to go the previous years, isn't she?"

      "Yes," said Rachel sadly. "it's a welcome miracle that she and Gabriel still get along so well. I mean, that scar alone is enough to tear people apart forever. I'm glad Gabi has such a good friend to rely on."

      "That is indeed a blessing. And now, I must go. Goodbye, Rachel. And give Daniel my fondest regards."

      "Goodbye to you as well, Albus. But you know I'm still not really convinced that this is a good thing for him."

      Dumbledore nodded and opened the door. He walked outside for a few steps, when suddenly there was a loud crackling sound and Dumbledore had vanished, Apparating to his next destination. Rachel closed the door and went back to the kitchen, where Julia finally managed to get Gabriel to his feet.

      "Eh, Mum. Albus already left?" He said, wiping some dust off his sleeve.

      "Yup, but he'll be expecting a reply from you soon. Now why don't you think about it for awhile?"

      Gabriel stayed still in thought about what he should do, even though he knew what his decision would be already. Julia sensed his discomfort, though, and gave a soft pull on his sleeve.

      "Come, let's go outside for awhile," she said. "Okay, Gabi?"

      "Right. Mom, I'll be out with Julia for awhile, okay?"

      Rachel merely nodded and shooed them away. Julia pulled Gabriel with him to the kitchen door and opened it. Before Gabriel went out, he turned around to his mother.

      "Thanks mom. I appreciate you letting me decide on my own about this."

      "What can I say? It's your decision now, Gabi. We've made it three times already, it's your turn I guess."

      Gabriel nodded and with that stepped out with Julia. They walked over to the spot where Gabriel was lying earlier. They both sat down next to each other. The evening was already progressing and it was getting chilly. Julia shivered, not being dressed for the sudden drop in temperature. She hadn't expected to be out of the house when visiting. Gabriel gave a slight smirk.

      "That's so like you, Jules. Seeing that it's a bit warm and then going out without any warm clothes at all. Aw hell, I can't stand you shivering like that. Here, put this on."

      Gabriel took off his blue and white striped sweater and handed it to Julia. She sighed a bit before putting the sweater on over her head.

      "Never thought that I might just do that because I know that you'll offer your sweater anyway?" countered Julia. 

      She wasn't exactly lying either. She mostly refuses to put on sweaters or jackets, since she believes they're not flattering and they get too hot when she's not outside. But still, wearing Gabriel's sweater is always a nice thing. Somehow Gabriel managed to almost radiate warmth by himself. This made the sweater really comfortable, it still being warm from his body.

      "So, are you going to Hogwarts?" asked Julia. "Seems odd to suddenly think twice over it. You've been dreaming about going ever since you got your first admission letter."

      Gabriel gave a look at Julia. She looked cute in his sweater and she always smelled very nice. She usually wore no scents whatsoever, but her hair always had the lingering smell of the flower shampoo that she used daily.

      "I already made up my mind about going to Hogwarts," said Gabriel, but he let out a sigh after, starting to gaze at the stars that now illuminated the sky.

      "But?"

      "But I'm wondering if it's the right thing to do. It'll all be new and weird and now that I'm actually going, I keep being afraid that at one point or another I'll lose control again."

      Gabriel's striking blue eyes went back to Julia and rested on her stomach. Julia noticed what he was thinking about and she knew how it hurt him still what he had done. Nothing she said or did removed the guilt from Gabriel completely, even though she knew it wasn't his fault or intention. 

      She unconsciously placed her hand over her scar, making Gabriel look away sadly. Julia shuffled over to him and placed an arm around his shoulders.

      "Hey, you couldn't do anything about that. Besides, it's only happened once and it's not like you killed me." 

      Immediately after she said that, she regretted it. She should've remembered that Gabriel was real sensitive about it and mentioning the fact that she could've died didn't do any good. She bit her lip as she could see the tears forming in his eyes. She came closer to him and enveloped him in a protective hug.

      "Come on. You shouldn't beat yourself up over that incident. You stopped. You regained control, that's what matters. Besides, you're a black belt now. You've improved your control a lot," said Julia

      "I know, Jules. It's just the thought of losing you is enough already, not to mention it being my fault. And what if it happens when others are around?" Even though Gabriel was still worried, Julia's words comforted him, calmed him down.

      "Then you'll stop again."  Julia knew that Gabriel would be strong and resist. But seeing him with tears in his eyes just wouldn't do. She smirked a bit and then gave Gabriel a kiss on his cheeks where the solitary tears where staining his face. Almost immediately Gabriel perked up and grinned. Julia let him go, a wide grin covering her face.

      "Meanie, you know that being kissed by a beautiful girl will improve my mood." Gabriel changed the subject, all being said that needed to be said. "How's someone supposed to be all angsty if you do that?"

      "Well, I'm flattered. You know, if you were always such a smooth talker, you'd have a girlfriend already."

      "Feh, I thought I had one already?"

      "Dream on, Gabi. I'm just here for moral support and to keep you on your toes."

      "Ah well, good thing that I'm not going to try either. Being called Gabi is annoying. I probably couldn't live with a girlfriend that would call me that."

      "Oh yes, you could. Though I doubt the unlucky lady will be able to stomach you for long. But hey, you're going to Hogwarts now. Lots of new people to befriend and girls to be looked at by you."

      "Yeah, right. I bet you'd like to go with me, don't you. Looking at all the pretty witches in their flowing robes. Plus, I bet the only reason you hang out with me is because I almost look like a girl anyway."

      "Drats, found out again. I guess I'll have to go back to bed and think up a new scheme."

      Julia got up from the grass and stretched. She was feeling tired, since she didn't have her usual amount of sugar in her system. Gabriel did the same, but when he stood up, he gazed at the stars for awhile, taking in all the scents that came with the evening.

      "Hey, Jules?"

      "Yes?"

      "Could you take my clothes back to my place? I feel like having a run."

      Julia smirked. She'd seen this coming, since Gabriel liked running a lot, especially when he just cleared some thoughts. She turned away from Gabriel in mock disgust, averting her eyes from him.

      "Oh sure, leave the girl to carry you clothes around while you run around naked. People will start to talk, you know?"

      She already could hear him removing his clothes, by the falling of the material on the ground. Then there was a faint sound which meant that Gabriel was transforming.

      "Thanks Jules. I knew you were my best friend."

      Julia heard the familiar sounds of Gabriel completing his transformation. "And you're my best friend as well, Gabi."

      The only response she got was a growl as she turned around to look at her friend. Before her eyes stood a wolf. Well, it would have been a wolf if it wasn't for some differences. But the wolf's fur was a light blond color and it was white by his belly. The wolf had striking blue eyes, but if those weren't enough differences, there was another one. The wolf had two long, blond tails, both swishing lazily, their tips ending in the same white fur he had at his stomach.

      "You be careful to let no one see you like that, okay?"

      Gabriel gave a happy nod and ran two circles around Julia, before taking off in the direction of the forest, his two tails flowing behind him like a golden trail. Julia let a chuckle escape her lips, wondering why her friend was still so childish at some times. But then again, they were both still children. Even though they  had to grow up just a little faster because of what happened between them.

      Julia was one of the very few people that knew about Gabriel's other form. She had known it ever since the day that Gabriel still dreaded. That day was what caused him to view his other form as a curse, despite all the perks it had and the fun he had with it. Of course, the fact that his parents were partial to sending him to a public school because of that accident didn't help his view either.

-=*=-

      Julia and Gabriel were around eight years old that day. There was an eclipse that day, even though it was a partial one and didn't take long. Therefore it wasn't really noticeable. They were playing around the forest and Gabriel boasted that he would be able to climb up to a particularly high branch that was difficult to reach. Julia took him up on that claim and he tried. 

      Gabriel even succeeded, reaching the branch with little trouble. But that particular branch was already dead, even though it wasn't noticeable yet from the ground. The moment Gabriel leaned on it, the branch broke, letting him fall all the way down. 

      He heard Julia scream, even though all the sounds were hazed because of the rush of the air in his ears. He felt his back hit a branch and he toppled over in midair. Then he came across another branch, which this time hit him on the head, cutting a gash in his forehead. In what seemed to him like an eternity he then hit the ground stomach first. The blood from his gash covered his face, making his vision blurry and red.

      _Red…_

_      Red…_

      "Gabi! Gabi! Are you alright?"

      Gabriel could faintly hear Julia run up to him, frightened and yelling if he was alright. But he wasn't. He could feel something alien slip up from his mind, his body… from his very soul.

      _Red…_

_      Blood…_

_      …_

_MORE…_

"Gabi! You okay? Are yo…" Julia gasped. 

      There, before her eyes, Gabriel changed rapidly. His features became canine-like and his clothes became torn. His body was changing right through them and he was developing two grand tails. But the thing that gripped her heart in fear most was the look in Gabriel's eyes. Not their ordinary striking blue, but a bright crimson red, burning with rage.

      Before she knew what had happened, Gabriel lashed out at her with a clawed hand, giving her a great gash in her right side. She was thrown against the ground, the force of the fall being enough to knock her out. 

      _More blood…_

      What she didn't see then was that Gabriel had stood over her and raised his clawed hand in a fashion as to give a deadly strike across the neck.

      _Mo… What?_

_      What am I doing? Jules?_

_      Gabriel's eyes slowly turned back to their blue selves, looking at the poor Julia, her clothes covered in her blood. He looked at his hands, noticing the claws he didn't know he had and seeing them slowly go away. He could feel his body reverting back to normal, shreds of his clothing still hanging from his body._

      Then he forgot all about himself and ran to his house, screaming at his mother to come and help Julia, before she'd be dead. Rachel managed to get to Julia in time and it was luck that Daniel had a free day then. He managed to magically patch Julia up enough so that her life wouldn't be in danger and then took her to the hospital.

      Gabriel stayed with her all the time she was out. The moment she regained consciousness, he started crying and saying he was sorry. Julia was a bit fuzzy on what happened, but she realized it wasn't his fault and forgave him for it. 

      Gabriel and Julia never told any others, except for Gabriel's parents, what really happened that day. Rachel and Daniel told Julia's parents that she was the one that fell from the tree to explain the wound she got while out playing with Gabriel. 

      Afterwards they found out that the time that Gabriel transformed, was around the same time as the partial eclipse, but Gabriel wasn't really concerned with that. All that mattered for him is that he wouldn't let that happen again, ever.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Author's Notes:

Another big thank you to my proofreaders, Orthogon and [50-50]. They're both still valuable sources for improvement, even though they sometimes don't have the chance to proofread my chapters before I put them up.

Reviewers Thanks!

· **RubeeTabs**: **Well, I didn't say what his curse was yet. It is somewhat explained in this chapter though. And I'll continue. Please put up with me some more.**

· **lapis** Lazuli3, Fireblade K'Chona:** Thanks for the encouragement. Hope you liked this chapter. ^-^**

Well, please continue to review. It's weird how these lift my spirits up to write more.


	4. Diagon Alley, books and a new friend

**Chapter 3: Diagon Alley, books and a new friend…**

It was a week before school would begin and Rachel was getting ready to buy school supplies with Gabriel at Diagon Alley. But she was missing a very important ingredient to do this shopping, namely Gabriel. Her son, sometimes managing a laziness that could only be rivaled by the primal ooze from which all spawned, was still curled up in his bed. 

The extra poncho that made sure the blanket didn't go anywhere while he was sleeping, lay at the other side of the room. The blanket itself was rather mangled up between the floor and Gabriel's legs. The pillow had joined the poncho in being as far away from Gabriel as possible.

Rachel sighed and glanced at the clock. It was nearly 12 o'clock and she really had wanted to get there early. But no hope for that though. She'd have to resort to drastic measure to get her lazy son out of bed.

"Okay, Julia, your turn. And please try to leave him conscious?"

Julia nodded and sped of to Gabriel's bedroom. When she got there, she slowed down and entered quietly. Approaching the bed, she poised herself to pounce on her prey. And then…

"Oi, Jules. Don't make such a racket. I'm trying to sleep here."

Julia twitched, wondering how he had even known she was there. But it was still a big waste to spoil such a good pouncing just because she had been caught. So she pounced.

"Gack! The hell? Aaah, getteroffme getteroffme!"

"Wake up, Gabi. We're taking you to this Diagon Alley thing to get your school stuff, remember?

Gabriel relaxed a little, or at least as much as being held in a death grip could allow without actually dieing.

"Okay, okay, I'll get up. Can you let me go now, please?"

"Sure, sure. Get a move on though, we're going to have lots of fun. I can't wait to see what it will be like there." If Julia would've looked in a mirror then, she would've noticed that her eyes had gone all starry.

"Yup," said Gabriel groggily. "Now push off and let me get dressed properly."

After Julia went back down, Gabriel got up and put some decent clothes on. He also gathered some stuff to get ready for their trip, mainly a backpack and his wallet. He knew Julia was excited about going along, since she has never been to a magical place. Being a Muggle while Gabriel was a wizard didn't bother her, but magic still fascinated her to no end.

Rachel, Julia and Gabriel put all their necessary stuff in the pickup and drove to London. They arrived there in relative calm, putting aside the fact that Julia was trying to poke Gabriel into full consciousness. Gabriel, on the other hand, had taken to falling over on Julia's lap and trying to fall asleep again. This all was accompanied by a lot of muttering on both sides. 

They arrived soon enough in downtown London and parked somewhere near the Leaky Cauldron.

"Huh, why did we stop here?" Julia was surprised to see that they were nowhere near someplace with sparkles flying in the air or at least a flying cat or something. "There's nothing in here but a that book store and the shabby-looking record store."

Gabriel gave a snort and Rachel let a smile form on her lips.

"Muggles always say that when they first come here," said Rachel. "but just try to focus on the space between that bookstore and record store, okay?" And with that, Gabriel and Rachel began walking to the space between the doors, where she suddenly noticed that a pub lay there.

"Eh, how come I didn't notice that before?"

She began walking towards the pub that Rachel already went in. Gabriel was waiting outside the entrance for her. Above the entrance hung a creaking sign with a depiction of an apparently cracked cauldron. The words 'Leaky Cauldron' flowed under the picture.

"Come on," said Gabriel excitedly. He was going to like her reaction to the entrance to Diagon Alley. "get a move on! We're going to have lunch when we're in the alley."

"Okay, okay. Don't get your knickers in a bunch." Julia said dismissively.

"I don't wear knickers… that would be you." Gabriel replied as Julia stepped inside.

The pub wasn't at all what Julia would expect from something magical. It was kinda shabby-looking and the only thing pointing in the direction of magic were the patrons. Most of them were donned in wizard robes and were talking excitedly about one thing or another. The guy behind the bar was chatting a bit with Rachel and seemed very old. He was bald and his mouth seemed to have no more teeth. She turned to Gabriel and saw that his face was turning slightly green.

"Nose giving you a headache again?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it always takes me awhile to get used to the strong smells here. It's so annoying. I'll be okay though." Gabriel rubbed his nose a bit.

Rachel came up to them and noticed Gabriel looking green. She didn't say anything about it though, since she knew that happened to him usually when there was a great change in the strength of the smells in the environment. And smells in the wizarding world were not necessarily stronger than normal scents, but just lingering with a lot more abundance.

"Come on, you kids. We'll enter the alley now." 

Rachel walked to the back of the pub and went outside through a door there. When Julia and Gabriel followed, Julia was amazed to see that after Rachel had poked a few of the bricks on the wall there, the entire wall seemed to slide open.

She was amazed by what she saw then, she thought it was like walking into a fairytale. All kinds of magical people walking around, chatting amiably with each other, young kids running around with fake wands that turned into chickens or exploded. Older children walking to and from the shops, carrying an abundance of items. Julia figured they must've been back-to-school supplies. But then her eye was caught by something that seemed to be like a small monument to an occasion.

The monument wasn't large or imposing, but it consisted solely of a large slab of what seemed like a kind of metal with engraving's on it. It had a symbol on it that Julia recognized as an ancient representation of the world and on it the following text could be read.

_Oktober 24,1999_

_To the end of a dark era_

_And in_

_Celebration of the_

_Union__ of wizards everywhere_

_That made it possible_

"This monument was erected 13 years ago, at the end of the war against Voldemort, an extremely powerful, dark wizard." Rachel told Julia as they walked towards it to examine it.

Gabriel seemed nonplussed at the monument, but that was only because he was still trying to keep his hastily eaten breakfast inside his stomach and he had seen it several times already.

"Harry Potter made a great deal of difference in that war, helping in uniting the wizards from several countries against Voldemort. They placed this here to remind everyone that we should be united at all times." Rachel sighed, knowing that after the war, the union was mostly over. 

The countries have gone back to their petty rivalries, even though something like this might happen again. Her thoughts on this were interrupted from an audible growl from Julia's stomach.

"Heh," said Julia embarrassed. "I guess I'm pretty hungry. Can we eat something somewhere?"

"Sure," Gabriel interjected, his face regaining some of its normal color again. "I'm hungry too, let's go grab something at that new place, what's-it-called… Puddi's Cafetaria."

"Okay then. I guess I can do with lunch myself too." Rachel responded to the two of them.

They went to the cafeteria, which was located next to a shop that sold magical instruments. The cafeteria itself was decorated only in minimal ways and quite tasteful. The chairs and tables had the right feel to them and the rest of the interior matched the pleasant atmosphere perfectly. They ate some good dishes that resembled Muggle-dishes, but with ingredients replaced by their more magical counterparts to make the flavors stand out even more.

Afterwards they left and bought the school supplies that Gabriel would need. They first made a stop at one of the stores that sold quills and ink to write with. They bought those, along with some eraser-fluids and blank scrolls.

After that, they made a stop at Flourish & Blott's bookstore, to get Gabriel's new books for the year.

"Okay," Rachel had taken out Gabriel's school list and read it over. "We need the _'Standard book of spells, Grade 4'_… Ah, here it is. And _'Guide to advanced Transfiguration' _by Richard Dort, _'Magical and Mythical Creatures' _by Katase Shima, _'Advanced Potions for Healing and Harming'_ by Severus Snape and _'Defensive Magical Theory' _by Wilbert Slinkhard_._… Now, I'll leave you to get those, while I'll just go and leaf through some of the romance books." Rachel almost giddily went to the romance section of the bookstore, making Gabriel and Julia roll their eyes.

The _'Standard book of spells'_ had been easy enough to find. Since it was such a popular series of grade books, they had their own display near the entrance. For the other books Gabriel and Julia would have to look around the store.

Julia didn't really know where she was going, so she just followed Gabriel around and looked around. She noticed an odd book that was placed on a shelf with the cover in front. It read: _'Dangerous Creatures Bestiary'_. There weren't any books near it and there were several chains securing it to the back of the bookcase. She reached out to look into it, but then…

"You better watch that." Gabriel said, as he caught her wrist in his hand.

He pulled out a stick with a hook on it that Julia didn't notice before and used it to poke at the book. Immediately the book opened its cover to reveal a row of very dangerous looking teeth and began to snap violently at the stick. Julia gasped and stepped backwards, her back pushing into the bookcase behind her, which fortunately didn't have any dangerous book on it.

"Some of these books are dangerous you know. It's the magic. Sometimes the books leak or absorb some of it and they get altered to match their contents." Gabriel explained to the scared Julia. 

"Those things are dangerous!" Julia exclaimed, very weirded out at the fact that such a book just lay in a bookstore for all to touch or be eaten by.

"Very true, that's why they placed that warning sign next to it." Gabriel pointed out the sign that Julia had completely missed. "Incidentally, if you find a book about hurricanes, don't open it. Unless you want the salesperson to place a curse on you."

"Now let's see… since this is the bestiary section anyway, we should find one of my books here. Ah, here it is." Gabriel picked up _'Magical and Spiritual Creatures'_ from one of the shelves and tossed it to Julia, who seemed somewhat twitchy about catching it.

"Don't'worry." Gabriel tried to reassure her. "They don't all bite. This is a pretty common book and it's hardly interested in soaking up magic."

They walked around the bookstore a bit more, grabbing copies of other books that he needed. 

  
"Hey," asked Julia. "how come there's only one book of each on the shelf? Apart from that standard spell book and some other odd ones, there's so little of them. Shouldn't there be more, because they're designated books?"

"That's the shop's magic system kicking in." Gabriel explained. "Didn't you notice that a little while after we took the books to buy them, another copy appeared? It keeps doing that until the shop has to restock."

After a little while more, they ended up in the Potions section, searching for _'Advanced Potions'_. When Gabriel found it, he groaned.

"Jeez, this book is massive." He looked at the book in the bookcase. 

It had a poisonous green cover with a depiction of a black and white snake entwining each other and eating each other's tails. The book was about the same width as his palm and a tad larger than most books would be, making it stick out a bit from the bookshelf.

"I think we should call this BGB-TWOAS." Julia commented.

"Have you been sniffing stuff here?" Gabriel was looking at her incredulously. "I know it's all new here, but we can't have you sniffing every substance or book that you come across. You'll end up with extra arms and a head as large as a walnut or something."

"Hey, sniffing is your department, wolf boy. And besides I was referring to Bloody-Green-Book-That-Won't-Fit-On-A-Shelf."

"Good name. But I bet that the bloody wizard that came up with this book, must've had an inferiority complex or something. This must be compensating for something."

Julia and Gabriel were laughing about that, while he lifted the green book from the bookshelf with only one hand. He practically had to drop the book on top of the pile he held in his other hand. Then, they both heard a voice behind them.

"You know, you really shouldn't let Snape hear you talking about his book like that."

Gabriel and Julia turned to the voice. It had come from a girl, about Julia's height, that had several books piled in her arms. She was wearing formless, dark blue robes. The girl's black hair had been cut short, so that it only reached to her eyes. Her brown eyes looked serious and accentuated her slightly asian features.

After taking in the new appearance for a second, Gabriel found that a reply was needed.

"Oh yeah?" Gabriel was wondering why she said that. Surely potions book authors weren't going to pop up from every corner to attack people that insulted their books? "I mean, what's the author of a book going to do? Give me detention?"

"Actually," replied the girl. "I think that's exactly what he'll do. Not to mention take away a lot of house points and make you clean the filthy cauldrons or something dreadful like that."

Julia and Gabriel gave her an odd look. What was she going on about?

"Severus Snape is the Potions professor at Hogwarts. A really mean one at that, though he is brilliant with his potions."

"Oh… better not mention this too loudly then when I'm in school." Gabriel had a rather healthy instinct for unnecessary survival.

"I think not. Could you step aside a bit please?"

The girl stepped past the retreating Gabriel and tried support the pile of books her hands in such a way so that she could remove one hand to take a newly appeared potions book of the shelf. After about 10 seconds of that Julia got tired.

"Here," she said, grabbing the book from the bookcase. "you're going to drop all that if you keep that up."

Julia neatly put the book on top of the girl's pile. She looked grateful and made for some small-talk.

"So, you guys going to Hogwarts as well then? I don't remember seeing you there, though. And since you're going to be in my year, I'd think that I'd know you by now."

"The books make it that obvious what year I'm going to be in?" Gabriel looked slightly surprised that the girl was able to tell that so quickly. "But to answer your question, I'm transferring to Hogwarts to be a fourth year student."

"And I'm just here to make sure he gets his supplies properly," grinned Julia. "Not being able to cast magic makes it kinda hard to go to a magical school."

"You do realize I don't need a babysitter?" Gabriel told Julia irritably.

"Yes you do."

Gabriel gave a slight growl at the obvious insult. But he was used to Julia, so that wasn't a problem.

"So," the unknown girl asked. "Can I ask your names? It's fun meeting new people and names make it all so much easier later. My name is Gloria Richards."

"Ah, I'm Julia Connor. And this guy is Gabriel Rayon." Julia, quick as always, gave a short introduction. "Let's not shake hands at the moment. That'll be painful for quite some toes."

"So, Gabriel, why come to Hogwarts now? I mean, were you attending another school before?"

Gabriel tore his attention away from the cover of a red book that proclaimed it to be the best guide to blades in the world.

"Eh, oh… I was home schooled before. That was… more convenient. But I really wanted to go to Hogwarts, so my parents decided that I could go from now on." 

Gabriel wasn't about to let Gloria know why exactly it was more convenient to stay at home. He was going to keep his other side as much a secret as he could, since everyone would probably loathe him for it. Julia didn't even need to catch on to this, since it was implied between the two.

They passed the register were they would wait for Rachel. Gloria walked up to grumpy looking salesclerk and paid for her books. She then turned to Gabriel again.

"Well, it would be fun to see you get sorted into Gryffindor. That's my house. Anyway, I gotta go. I'm supposed to meet my family near here in a minute, so I'll see you later. And bye, Julia. Too bad you won't be going to Hogwarts."

She walked away, stumbling a little bit with the pile of books in her hands, and left the store.

"So, we're making friends already." Julia said. "You happy, Gabi?"

"Yup, this is going to be fun. I'm just sorry that I won't be seeing you now for most of the year."

"Aw, ain't that cute? Don't worry though, you'll be just fine. Plus, you'll be glad I won't be around for all that time."

"Oh yeah? And why would that be? It's fun hanging around you."

"Of course. I'm always fun. But I bet I'll be cramping your style immensely. However are you going to get yourself some nice girl if I'm always hanging around you?"

Gabriel took a moment to contemplate this.

"You're right." He said eventually. "You'll scare them all away with your evil looks and foul morning breath. Yup, definitely glad you won't be around me that much anymore."

Gabriel gave a chuckle when he saw Julia's reaction to this. Julia had started to fume, but because of the books in her hand she couldn't get back at him without them dropping to the ground. So, she took some preemptive action. She piled all the books in _her_ hands on top of the pile of books already in Gabriel's hands. Then, she pulled on his ear a lot.

"Ouch, ouch! Damn, that hurts, Jules. Stop that! You're dead meat when I have my hands free."

"Now, now" interjected the voice of Gabriel's mother. "Play nice. I'm sure that whatever reason Julia is pulling your ear from your head for, it is a just reason. Now bring those books to the counter, so I can pay for them."

"And what did you get?" asked Julia to Rachel.

"Well, I got myself some new romance adventures. Those will keep me busy when Daniel is called to make late evenings again." Rachel blushed slightly, but was still smiling amiably.

When they stepped out of the bookstore, shrunk all the books, so they could fit better into Gabriel's backpack. She grabbed the school list to check what more stuff Gabriel would need.

"Now, let's see. What's next... Oh, this is going to be fun!"

Rachel discreetly let Julia see the and pointed something on it. Julia's grin as she read the next item on the shopping list nearly divided her face in half. Rachel's eyes took on a sparkly quality that wasn't really malicious, but always spelt trouble for Gabriel.

Gabriel groaned, already guessing what the next item on the list would be.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Okay, a big applause to my only reviewer since the reposting of my story. I love you… tell all your friends to review as well ^-^ Also, you have the usual reviewer answer.

**Moonie****:** Thanks for the review, see above for praise. Hope you like this chapter.

Again thanks to my proofreaders, even though they managed not to get updates to me in time. But I know they'll give me corrections later anyway, so I'll update with those too. If you find any major errors or stuff that just doesn't read well (you know, like: "AAAAAH! What a horrible, yet still grammatically correct sentence!") just tell me.

Also, for a rant. The amount of reviews I get is not a good indicator of how many people read my stories, but it's an indicator nonetheless. This means, that since I reposted my story, I lost a lot of readers. I know the reason too, since Harry Potter is such a popular book series (and the fanfiction possibilities are endless), there are simply a lot of people creating stories. I mean, the amount of stories passed the 100k mark. And I'm guessing that there are about 150 new updates per day. This means that the usual page I get into in the default list is somewhere, oh… let's say 6th. And I know for one that most people don't go past the 5th page in search of new stories. Oh well, I guess this means I'll get less readers. Unless I somehow get lucky enough to be posted on the first page. But don't you guys worry, I'll continue updating this story, since I really want to know how it ends.

Bye bye and happy reading. 

Also, review!


	5. Robes and the most important item

**Chapter 4: Robes and the most important item…**

      Julia almost dragged Gabriel with her and Rachel was walking in front of them. And the direction in which they were heading was all to clear for Gabriel. They were heading in the direction of the Diagon Alley's only robes store, 'Madame Rosemerta's Robes For All Occasions'.

      Gabriel hated shopping for clothes. He just didn't get what other people made such a fuss about. Clothes were things to cover your body with so you don't get cold. Gabriel really didn't worry much about the clothes he wore, just that they were comfortable and that they didn't make him look like an utter fool. And that they were mostly in the blue category. He considered most blue things to look good.

      Rachel and Julia however liked shopping for clothes. Rachel enjoyed getting people clothes in which they looked good and took her time to find the right ones. Julia however was a little more down to earth about it, but enjoyed pestering Gabriel by dragging the whole affair out as much as she could. 

      But Gabriel still had to admit that whenever they convinced him to go shopping for new clothes, he did come out with clothes that looked good on him. He just thought that his old clothes did that as well and didn't see the purpose of getting more.

      "Now, go inside and we'll get you a Hogwarts Uniform." Rachel informed Gabriel.

      "Just a uniform?" Gabriel perked up. Standard issue uniforms weren't such a problem, they couldn't take that much time to buy.

      "Na-ha, Gabi." Julia said grinning. "You don't get off that easily. We're getting you formal clothes as well."

      "Oh, please no," whimpered Gabriel.

      After the store clerk measured most of Gabriel's vital body parts, they got him an Hogwarts uniform. It was just a rather formless bunch of material with sleeves, but somehow it did fit him right.

      But the dress robe was a completely different matter. For the next three quarters of an hour, Gabriel's mother and Julia made him try all kinds of dress robes. Even a lot of silly ones, as per the suggestion of Julia to just see how he looked in them. 

      Gabriel stubbornly insisted that he didn't like most of the robes, be it because they were uncomfortable or that they made him look like an oaf. Eventually they all managed to find a compromise. 

      They bought him a blue dress robe, which hugged his upper body tightly to show it off and which flowed down in the standard robe-like fashion from his belt down. The sleeves grew a bit wider towards the end, adding the right wizard feel to the robe. The material was something that felt silken, even though they couldn't place it. The store clerk told them that it was a special type of silk woven from cobweb threads. Gabriel looked good in it, even though from a Muggle's perspective, it looked a lot like he was wearing a shirt with too long the sleeves and a long skirt beneath it.

      Julia made sure to point that out, while they walked out of the store with Gabriel's new clothes.

      "Ack, stop it, Jules! You know it's not my choice to wear something that looks like a dress." Gabriel exclaimed, finally growing weary of her.

      "Gabi," Rachel said, looking rather offended. "A robe is nothing like a dress. Don't forget that. And they can make you look just as good as muggle clothes."

      "Yeah, yeah, mom. But it's still annoying to have Julia point out that it looks like a dress."

      "Point." Rachel's mom conceded mischievously and flicked her wand at Julia. "_Silencio_. There, we'll have some peace and quiet for awhile."

      Gabriel grinned as he watched Julia try to speak, but with no sounds coming out of her mouth. She looked as if she was about to strangle Rachel, but she didn't try to. Apparently this wasn't that odd an occurrence to happen to her.

      "Now then, next item… Ah, let's go in here, Julia would love it."

      Gabriel noticed they were standing in front of the Magical Menagerie and gave a groan. Julia, on the other hand, looked very excited. She was gesturing madly at her mouth, obviously wanting to speak again.

      "_Finite incantatem" Rachel ended the Silencing charm on Julia._

      "Oh, oh! Magical pets! I wanna see!" Julia exclaimed, as she bounded into the menagerie.

      Rachel and Gabriel soon followed, even if Gabriel was displaying some reluctance at entering. The menagerie was always a sight to behold, even though he had been there before and already knew what it looked like. 

      The problem with Gabriel and pets was only that pets didn't like him. Especially magical pets. This made it annoying for him to owl people, since the owls were very reluctant to let him near them. But whenever he was near cats, most hells broke loose.

      _Lucky thing that all the pets here are properly caged or restrained.__ I'd hate for another occurrence of what happened the last time I had to deal with a lot of small, furry animals._

No sooner did Gabriel think about this after he entered the menagerie, before he saw two small, furry objects launch themselves at his face, snarling viciously.

      "Ack!" was the last sound he could utter, before his voice became muffled of the small heaps of fur. 

      Gabriel was trying desperately to get the things off his face, which were digging their nails into his skull in a quite unpleasant way. Luckily, the store owner was there quickly. A boy and a girl that were looking quite anxiously followed the owner to the poor Gabriel.

      "You again?" The owner said after he forcibly removed the two kittens from Gabriel's face. "I thought I'd never see you again after what happened to you last time. You're lucky only these two cats are out of their compartments now, instead of the entire shipment that I was checking over then."

      "Yeah," sputtered Gabriel, removing some hair from his mouth and checking his face for serious wounds. "thanks. Remind me never to feel loyal to my mother again and enter this true circle of hell."

      Meanwhile, Julia was rolling around on the floor laughing, while Rachel was quietly chuckling in her hand.

      "Heh, glad you think so highly of my shop. That a friend of yours?" the owner said, pointing to the heap of Julia that was still recovering her breath on the floor.

      "I'm not sure." Gabriel said coldly, glaring at Julia. "Maybe after I duct tape her hands to her feet."

      "Duct tape? Can't say I know what that is. Anyway, let me get these two darlings back to their new owners."

      The owner handed the kittens over to the girl and boy that were still looking very anxious. They probably didn't like it one bit that their newly bought pets would randomly assault people. Gabriel looked at them and saw that they couldn't be more than eleven or twelve years old. They both had red hair and looked extremely alike. They were probably twins. Even their freckles seemed to match.

      "Don't worry," Gabriel said. "They'll only attack me most probably. Cats and most other animals seem to hate me… lots."

      The boy finally worked up enough courage to say something.

      "We're really sorry. We'll try to teach them it's bad to attack people like that."

      "Y-yeah!" the girl stated, still looking nervous. "We're really sorry."

      They quickly exited the store after that. Julia by now had calmed down and was looking at other animals that caught her interest, like the many colorful birds. Still, with all the creatures glaring daggers at Gabriel, he started to feel uncomfortable.

      "I'm going to wait outside, okay? Just come out when Julia is done." He told his mother.

      Gabriel sat down on the ground outside and sighed, thinking that animals were going to hate him forever. Just then, a small, brown dog lay down next to him. Gabriel absentmindedly scratched the dog behind his ears and it gave a satisfied growl in response.

      _Oh well, at least dogs like me. I guess it really has something to do with my curse._

      After about twenty minutes, Rachel and Julia came back out of the menagerie. Julia was still casting longing glances over her shoulder towards the shop.

      "It's really too bad that I couldn't buy anything in that shop." She said. "But my parents would ask questions about where I'd get something like a two-headed parrot."

      "Good thing you didn't buy the parrot anyway. I think you'd go insane with the two heads constantly arguing with each other." Rachel commented. "Get bored much, Gabi?"

      "No, I had some company." Gabriel said, indicating his canine partner in laziness.

      Julia grinned. "So, how did you like your cat-encounter? Seems that cats here are even more vicious with you than normal cats. And what was that about you being there when an entire shipment of cats was out?"

      "Well," Rachel was only to glad to provide that story. "just imagine what happened just now, only with about ten times the amount of cats."

      Gabriel gave a groan and Julia looked as if she could feel the pain Gabriel must've felt then. She knelt down next to Gabriel felt around his face gently.

      "Good thing they didn't hurt you too much." She said softly.

      "I'm used to it," Gabriel responded, only very slightly taken aback by her sudden concern. "Thanks, though."

      "Heh, you're starting to make me feel bad about you accompanying me to this store."

      "Well," said Gabriel, now standing up. "I know how much you like animals anyway. But, is there anything else on the list?"

      Rachel grabbed the list again and read it over.

      "Just one more. You'll need your own wand."

      Gabriel gave her a slightly odd look, but then realization dawned on him.

      "What?" Rachel said again, noting the question that he had. "you didn't expect you could take my wand with you to Hogwarts?"

      "Nah, just never thought about the fact that I kept using your wand during my home schooling. It'll be weird using another wand."

      "Well, I'd let you keep mine, if it wasn't for the fact that I still need it, though not as much as before. Plus, I like my wand. But don't you worry, we'll get you your own wand and you'll see that it will fit you even better. Now, let's go to Ollivander's."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

      Ollivander was sitting in his shop at the counter, having a tea and looking at a black box he had received today. His shop, normally alive with the tiny sounds, hums and sometimes bangs that all the wands would make in their drawers, was almost completely silent. The only thing that could be heard if you listened carefully was a slight ruffling noise, which had a trembling quality. Also, the fact that he'd been unable to sell any wands because of this change was annoying him.

      Ollivander sighed as he finished his tea. He really didn't know what to do with the package in front of him. It was strange to say the least. Ollivander wasn't unaccustomed to weird packages being owled to him at times. Mostly they were small gifts from happy customers, exploding things from unhappy ones or some sort of demonstration another wand-maker had sent him to either comment on or to gloat to him about it.

      But this… Well, the contents were clear. In the box, wrapped carefully in red silk, was a wand. Its craftsmanship was clear as the wand was exquisitely made. But that was also the most peculiar thing about it.

      The delivery was made, not by an owl, but by a rather ferocious looking eagle. It was clearly a wild animal, which was rather odd, since you needed tame birds to deliver packages. Also, even the eagle had seemed rather twitchy about the package and flew off abruptly when Ollivander retrieved it from the bird. Almost as if it had wanted to be as far away from it as possible. The package had no mention of the sender anywhere.

      But the materials the wand was made of were the oddest. The black material which most of the wand was developed from, was definitely not wood. It was bone, a sturdy, black bone. No creature Ollivander knew of had black bones. Of course he knew this didn't mean that it wasn't possible. Even to the magical world, there were a lot of mysteries, legends and myths. But even wands of normal bone were extremely rare and difficult to make.

      Along the top of the handle of the eleven inch long wand, white runes were carved. It was a pale and shimmery white, though the runes refused to actually glow. Ollivander couldn't recognize any of them, which was startling to say the least. Runes were uncommon to be put onto wand, since they interfered with the magic they would cast, but still Ollivander knew of all the runes possible to put on wands.

      And then the core. All the famous wand-maker could make of it was that it was made up from a couple of hair strands from sort of magical creature. But he couldn't identify the species nor the potency of the strands, just that it was extreme.

      Ollivander was brought out of his musing due to the door chiming, indicating that there were customers. They were the last thing he needed, since he was about to close shop for the day early. He wouldn't be able to sell any wands like this. But still, they were customers, so he could try a last time today.

      "Hello," he said, as he walked up to the group that just entered. "Ah, miss Senner! Such a time since I have seen you. You have grown into a lovely, young lady. Are you here to buy another wand?"

      "Hello, mister Ollivander." Rachel replied cheerfully. "It's good to see you too. I'm here to buy a wand for my son here, Gabriel Rayon." She gave Gabriel a slight push on his back.

      "Yes, indeed. He seems to old to be a first-year though or even to buy his first wand." Ollivander questioned.

      "He used my wand during his home schooling. But since he's finally transferring to Hogwarts for his fourth year, I think it was time to give him his own wand. He can hardly take mine with him."

      "Yes, it would be a shame to see that wand leave your possession. It is perfect for you." Ollivander glowed at the memory of little Rachel holding her first wand. "But anyway, I think I'm going to have a bit of difficulty selling you a wand today. In fact, I was just about to close sho…"

      Ollivander was interrupted by an oddly strong ruffling noise. He excused himself for a moment and walked back to where he was sitting just before. The wand he had been puzzled over so greatly was twitching in its box, almost as if it was trying to get out. 

      Though he found it extremely odd, he knew that wands always picked their owners and not the other way around. So, he did the only thing he could as a competent wand-merchant. He took the box with him and to his new customers.

      "Here," he told Gabriel, handing him the box with the black wand in it. "It seems that this one is very anxious to be your wand."

      "Oh yeah?" asked a confused Gabriel. He eyed the wand with something like marvel, tracing one of the runes with his fingers. The wand felt oddly comfortable in his hands.

      "Yes, though I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it."

      Rachel shot a questioning look at Ollivander. Somehow she didn't like the fact that he was selling her son a wand that he himself didn't know much about.

      "Oh, I assure you that it is well made and very capable of casting magic." Ollivander said, noticing Rachel looking apprehensive. "But the fact is that it's a piece that a fellow wand-maker send me and I don't know all the specifics about."

      Gabriel wasn't listening to any of this though, as he took the wand out of the box and was fingering it gently, showing it to Julia as well. 

_      It's odd, but I like this wand already. How come it just feels right to have this? I wonder how easy it is to do magic with this. Might as well test it out and give Jules a little something._

      "_Ribbonius_" he called and a dark blue ribbon weaved itself out of the wand and settles in Julia's hair, pulling her hair in a gorgeous ponytail. 

      Julia looked excited and happy about the bit of magic he just performed, though she couldn't see where the ribbon had actually gone.

      "Okay, Gabi. Where'd that ribbon go?" she asked.

      "In your hair. Didn't I tell you that you should wear your hair in a ponytail more often? You look good like that."

      "Well, yeah. But I still think I'm cuter it I let it fall out. You're the one that's supposed to be cuter with a ponytail."

      "Heck, no. I'm already surprised I haven't had ignorant males hitting on me yet."

      Suddenly they heard a little cough. Ollivander had finished talking with Rachel and was trying to get Gabriel's attention again.

      "It seems that the wand is in perfect working order," he said. "That truly was a fine looking ribbon that you created. And might I add that the young lady looks delightful with her hair done like that?"

      Julia gave a slight blush while Gabriel just smiled at her, warmly but still in an I-told-you-so way.

      "Now, as for your wand," Ollivander continued. "I'll let you take that one, free of charge. Since I haven't made any costs in the production of it, nor was I actually asked to sell it for the sender, I think that it won't be a problem. Clearly, it was as if the wand was made for Gabriel."

      "Are you sure?" asked Rachel. "I mean, a wand like that would've cost quite a bit to make. But I'll take you up on your offer. Could you please send a note to your friend and thank him for us?"

      "I'll do that, miss Senner. Now, I shouldn't deter you any further from your day and I was closing up anyway, so I hope you will have a perfectly fine day. I hope you'll come back for a visit soon, perhaps when another wand is needed?"

      "Will do, Mr. Ollivander. No doubt that I'll see you again." Rachel gave a nod in goodbye and made to walk out the door.

      "Thanks, Mr. Ollivander. And thanks for the wand," Gabriel said politely, putting the wand back in the box and tucking it in his backpack.

      Julia just waved, as she didn't really know how to act in the company of more respected wizards (Rachel and Gabriel hardly counted as respected in her book). 

      As the three left the store, Ollivander muttered a tiny incantation at the doorand the sign on it turned and now showed 'Closed' to the outside. He then turned to the inside of the store, as if addressing an audience.

      "Alright, all of you," he said softly. "It's gone now, so no need to be scared anymore."

      And then, the store once again was alive with the usual little sounds of wands. Ollivander could not imagine why the wands would be scared of that black piece of marvel, but he only thought it was highly suspicious. He sat down in his office to make notes on the things that he found while examining the wand. He had the entire thing memorized perfectly and was determined to research its origin more closely. Ollivander was truly fascinated.


	6. On the way

**Chapter 5: On the way…**

      "They're nuts."

      Julia came along with Gabriel and his mother so see him off when he boarded the Hogwarts Express. However, when she read which platform they needed to go too, she readjusted her view of wizards. She now thought that they were all mostly insane.

      "Nine," she said, pointing to platform 9. "Ten," pointing to the other. "There's absolutely no platform 9 ¾. What do they expect us to do now?"

      "I think I heard someone say something about walking through a brick wall," said Gabriel.

      "Eh? You mean those solid lumps of brick that were specifically made to support tons of concrete so we don't all die a horrible, squishy death while boarding trains?"

      "I'm wondering about that as well. Mom, help us out here."

      Rachel was smiling. She suddenly remembered that in all the times that she talked about Hogwarts, she never mentioned anything about walking through the brick pillar to reach platform 9 ¾. It was funny to see how the two kids would solve this one, but then she thought that it would probably take too long.

      "Okay, okay. Let's just walk over to that brick pillar," she said.

      Rachel walked to the pillar where she would be able to reach the Hogwarts Express, with Julia and Gabriel following her. It wasn't very busy at the station right now, so Gabriel's old-fashioned trunk didn't draw too much attention. 

      When the kids were almost at the pillar, they stopped and waited to see what they were supposed to do here. Rachel, however, made no indication of stopping and just continued walking. Julia and Gabriel looked rather surprised when the pillar Rachel walked through then wasn't as massive as they thought.

      "Well, if she can do that," Gabriel said.

      "So can we." Julia finished.

      The two walked resolutely up to the pillar and continued walking, just like they saw Rachel do just then. Walking through the bricks was a strange sensation for both. It was like almost all their senses had just shut down. You couldn't hear, see or feel anything while in the massive stone. All you could do was to keep on walking, so you wouldn't get stuck in it. Then, they both noticed they could hear again.

      "Well, that wasn't that hard, was it?" Rachel asked the two.

      Platform 9 ¾ also was quite something. All kinds of wizards walked around with their children, loading stuff up on the Hogwarts Express. The train looked like it came directly from one of those model train-stores and had been enlarged. It was gleaming and didn't at all feel like it should be old, even though it was obviously a very old steam engine.

      The people on the platform were mostly hugging their children and kissing them goodbye. There was a group of redheads walking towards the entrance again and Gabriel thought that they looked a lot like the two kids whose kittens had attacked his face. He assumed that they had already let their kids enter the train and were on their way home.

      "Gabi, the train is leaving soon, so you'll need to get on." Rachel told him. "Care to give your mother a goodbye hug?"

      "Of course," Gabriel replied, giving his mother a big hug.

      "It'll be quiet around the house without you around."

      "Don't worry, I'll be back for Christmas. And you will still have your sappy romance novels."

      Gabriel then felt a prod in his side. Obviously, Julia was getting impatient about the lack of attention her best friend was giving her. Especially, since he was about to leave for a long while. Gabriel gave her a happy grin and hugged her as well.

      "Bye Jules. I'll be sure to write, even though your parents might think the sudden increase of owls around the house will be odd."

      "That doesn't matter. I'll just haunt the poor beasts until they learn they have to wait patiently for me at my room."

      "Poor owls. But that will teach them not to not like me."

      "Only dogs like you, wolf-boy." Julia said, feeling sad that her best friend was leaving. "Make sure you come back for Christmas. It's going to be hell to not have my cute Gabi to bully around."

      "I will."

      Gabriel pulled away from her and gave her a kiss on her nose. He did that on occasion and it was his fondest way of showing his affection to her. Something to do with the fact that in his other form, licking her nose is one of the easiest ways to do the same. 

      Julia blushed a little and kissed Gabriel back on his cheek. They separated and Gabriel grabbed his trunk. He made is seem remarkably easy, even though the trunk wasn't shrunk by magic and was actually rather heavy. But Gabriel's martial arts training seemed to pay off whenever he needed to do heavy lifting, even though he only practiced it as a hobby.

      Gabriel heaved his trunk in the train and gave one last goodbye to Rachel and Julia, before disappearing completely in the train. Rachel gave Julia's shoulder a slight touch and they both walked towards the entrance of Platform 9 ¾ again.

      "It'll be lonely without him." Rachel commented, noticing that Julia was being uncharacteristically quiet. "But Christmas isn't that far away. And for now, we can have fun. I'll buy you some ice-cream on our way back."

      "Thanks, Rachel," said Julia, a slight tremble noticeable in her voice. But that was soon replaced by her usual cheerfulness. "Can I have two scoops? I'd like banana and cinnamon."

      Julia and Rachel continued talking about all kinds things and how Gabriel would like it in Hogwarts, as they disappeared through the wall into plain Muggle-London again.

Meanwhile, Gabriel had the luck of finding an empty compartment, where he had all the space he needed to lurch his trunk on the overhead boards.

      Gabriel was glad he found an empty compartment. While he was thrilled to go to Hogwarts and meet more people, he wanted a little time to think. Before the compartment were to fill up with more people, he'd have some peace and quiet.

      _I wonder how it'll be without Jules. Quiet for one, but I won't have my best friend to tell my problems too either. Ah, crap. I'm not even gone ten minutes and I'm missing them immensely already. I'll send them a letter later to tell them how my Sorting went. _

      Meanwhile, the train had started moving. Soon they were out of the station and city and were rolling across the countryside. The scenery passed by quickly, making it seem that the train was going a little too fast for an ordinary steam engine.

      Gabriel took a moment to contemplate the Sorting that he would have to go through. He knew that normally it was an occasion for just the first-years. He'd be the only one from a fourth year that would be attending it. That will be sure to attract some attention.

_      Still, it's a good way to gauge the reactions of my schoolmates. I wonder what house I'll be put in…Not that it matters really. The whole house system seems kinda off. What's the point in knowingly creating rivalry? Still, Gryffindor sounds interesting, with Gloria being in it. She seems nice enough._

      His musings were interrupted by the compartment door sliding open. In the doorway stood a brown-haired girl. She was still mostly concealed behind the door and she peeked inside. She noticed Gabriel and her face fell.

      "I'm sorry," she said in a soft tone. "I didn't know anyone was in here. I'll be on my way now."

      _The hell?__ She looking for an empty compartment? We're already moving, she won't find one anywhere._

"Hey, wait up." Gabriel called out. "You can sit here, you won't disturb me. Besides, boring train trips are better when you have company, aren't they?"

      The girl blinked a few times. She looked up at Gabriel and even though her hair fell over her face, her blue eyes were apparent. Still, she stood by the compartment entrance and made no move to enter. After a few seconds, Gabriel got slightly impatient.

      "Come on. You won't be able to find an empty compartment anywhere anymore, since we're already moving. Besides, I don't bite…" Gabriel stopped to ponder this. "I think. Well, I won't."

      He stood up and walked to the door and looked around the corner. The girl's luggage lay just a bit in the hallway. Tired of waiting for the girl to just enter, he grabbed her trunk and hauled into the compartment. After that, he sat down again and looked at her expectantly. The girl was looking a bit bewildered, but then she stepped inside and sat down.

      Gabriel looked at her for awhile and decided she was incredibly shy. He sighed and continued to look out of the window. After a few minutes of watching the landscape he suddenly heard the girl's soft voice again.

      "Thank you."

      "Eh," Gabriel said, a bit startled at the sudden sound. "What'd you say?"

      "Thanks… for inviting me in and carrying my trunk." Her soft tone didn't change and she was still looking at the floor.

      "Least I could do. I could hardly sit here by myself the whole trip, that would be boring. I mean, my first day at Hogwarts and I didn't meet anyone on the train. What kind of tale would that be?"

      This made the girl look up.

      "Your first day? You're a first year?"

      "Heck no," Gabriel laughed. "I'm transferring from being home-schooled to Hogwarts. I'll be a fourth-year. I'm Gabriel, by the way."

      "I'm Helena, it's a pleasure to meet you." 

      _So polite.__ I wonder why she's so shy. She smells nice though, her shampoo flowery.._

"So, what year are you in, Helena?" Gabriel asked.

      "I'm a fourth-year Hufflepuf." Helena said, a little more relaxed now that they were on first-name basis.

      "Hufflepuf? I heard of the houses, but only what their mayor personalities are. How is it there?"

      Helena looked a bit down at that question.

      "I suppose it's  nice enough," she said. "The students in Hufflepuf are house mostly kind and they work hard."

      _Only mostly?___

      "Sounds like fun. I wonder what house I'll be put into."

      Helena and Gabriel talked about Hogwarts for most of the next hour, when Gabriel stifled a yawn.

      "Sorry, about that. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. Do you mind if I just doze off for awhile?"

      She shook her head and diverted her attention to a book she had been carrying. Gabriel leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. The steady rocking of the train and the presence of Helena relaxed him enough to doze off.

      Gabriel awoke again by the sound of some loud voices in the hallway. Thoroughly annoyed, he just feigned sleep, knowing it was the best way to fall asleep again. Besides, it may even be interesting if people thought he was sleeping. He was surprised though, when the loud group opened his compartment door.

      "Well, well. If it isn't the loathsome Helena." A really annoying and high-pitched voice said. "It's a good thing you picked such a far off compartment, since you'd only horrify all the others students."

      Gabriel didn't like this guy already. But he didn't stir, hoping that Helena would stand up to them at least a bit. But he didn't hear her, only the taunting laughs of the group of boys that stood in the doorway.

      "But what's this?" Another voice, equally annoying but with a lower tone.  "You're not alone. Quite the heavy sleeper, your companion is. Or maybe you just snuck in while she was asleep, so she wouldn't notice you. Scared she'll throw you out when she sees you?"

      _I'm a girl now, huh? I wonder what they'll want written on their tombstones._

      It was only then that Gabriel heard a sniffle from Helena and that was the final drop for him. He turned to the door and stood up. He noticed that he was larger than the other kids, even if it were just by a little bit. There were three guys and all three he didn't like. They weren't dressed in the school uniforms yet, but they all wore robes of an rather poisonous green. Anyway, Gabriel didn't take in all too much of their details, he still didn't like them.

      "So, anything you want to say to this 'girl'," Gabriel put heavy, cynical emphasis on that word. "before I decide what to carve into your tombstones?"

      To add to his threat, Gabriel put his hands together and cracked his knuckles. Though only few knew it, Gabriel had purposely perfected cracking his knuckles to an art, if only for the effect it caused.

      And the effect was good. The boys stood there, looking very, very bewildered and nervous, before one of them regained the sense to say something.

      "Oh yeah? And who are you to threaten us? If you didn't realize it by now, we outnumber you."

      Gabriel's eyes glinted maliciously and his grin then had an incredibly feral look. He could already see the two other guys slowly edge away from the door and nearly taking off.

      "Really? I guess you have to join your friends then, since you can hardly outnumber me if you're on your own. I think they're a bit further down the hall now."

      The boy looked around and noticed his friends were missing from his sides and trying to edge away quickly. It didn't really take long for him to realize that it would be best for him to join them, very quickly.

      When they had gone, Gabriel let out a sigh. He closed the compartment door and sat down again. He looked at Helena, who was looking back at him. She had her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs, and was looking at Gabriel with an emotion that resembled awe. Gabriel didn't really feel comfortable being looked at like that.

      "Come on, there's nothing to be worried about now." Gabriel said, trying to relax the girl again. "They're gone and I doubt that any of them will be back for now. They looked pretty cowardly anyway."

      _Cowardly is an understatement though. They looked like they were about to mess up their robes right then and there._

      Helena nodded and wiped her tears with her sleeves. She took a breath and looked down at the ground again.

      "Sorry," she said, softly.

      "What are you sorry about?" Gabriel asked, curious at what she could've done to him.

      "It's my fault that they bothered you. I should've just left you alone."

      Gabriel blinked.

      "Wait, they bothered me? Didn't see that happen," he reassured Helena. "I saw them bothering you to tears and I thought I'd teach them a lesson. Besides, they called me a girl, I hate it when people do that."

      Gabriel made a slight growling noise to emphasize his contempt for what just happened. Helena, despite being sad, still had to chuckle a bit, causing Gabriel to rise an eyebrow at her.

      "What's so funny?" he asked.

      "You do look a bit like a girl," she said, smiling slightly.

       "What? Now you think I look like a girl too?" Gabriel sputtered before regaining his composure and being a little more serious. "Is it that bad?"

      "Yes. I think it's your hair."

      "Ah yes, that's what Jules keeps saying as well. But I'm not getting rid of it. I rather like my hair."

      "Jules?" Helena asked curiously.

      Gabriel, glad he could talk to his new friend again, proceeded to tell her more about his life. They chatted for about another half hour, before Hogwarts came into sight through the windows.

      They put on their school robes over their own clothes and sat down again, waiting for the train to arrive at the station. When Gabriel stepped out of the train, after it had arrived, he marveled at the size of the castle he was looking at. He couldn't help but wondering how his life would be now.


	7. The chat with Dumbledore

**Author's notes:**

I decided to split my previous chapter 6 into two chapters, since it was too bloody long. Plus, I noticed that the chapter was divided into two pieces anyway, so separate chapters made sense. I guess this all proves to show that my writing style is still too hobbyist, since I didn't plan stuff out beforehand. Oh well, those that were deluded into thinking I had written up another chapter they hadn't read yet, my sincerest apologies. To those that haven't read these chapter yet, hope you enjoy them and don't forget to review.

************************

**Chapter 6: The chat with Dumbledore…**

      Hogwarts looked magnificent in the night sky. Almost arising from the lake, you could see the golden specks of dancing all around the castle. The reflection in the lake rippled and at times washed out over the surface as a huge tentacle emerged from the water.

      "Gabriel Rayon?"

      Gabriel turned as the female voice called his name. He turned to the source and found himself looking at an adult, but still fairly young-looking witch. Her brown hair was long and bushy, reaching freely from under her witches hat. Her robe was an extremely dark navy-blue and just as formless as the school uniforms. Gabriel thought she looked nice in them though.

      _She smells weird though. Kind of dusty, but with some static as well. I wonder what she wants._

      "That would be me."

      "Ah, good." The woman let out a breath, as if she was relieved about something. "My name is Hermione Granger and I am the Transfiguration teacher, as well as the Head of the Gryffindor House."

      "Pleased to meet you. But is it necessary to meet me now?"

      "Just a bit. Dumbledore thought it would be good if I took you to the castle now, so he could talk to you before the rest of the students got there. That way he could explain some things about the school in peace."

      Gabriel nodded and thought it over a bit. Going to the school now could be good and getting to see what it was like empty would be fun. Plus, he also wanted to know what Dumbledore would have to say to him.

      "Okay then, I'll come."

      Gabriel turned to Helena, who was watching the exchange with some curiosity. Gabriel nodded his head at her and said goodbye. Then he turned again and went with Hermione to the castle. Before they stepped in the carriage though, Gabriel left his trunk in a wagon that contained the rest of the trunks. The house elves in Hogwarts would arrange the luggage while the students would be at the opening feast.

      Hermione and Gabriel walked towards a carriage that looked rather differently from the others that the students were boarding. It was an open carriage and a lot smaller than the other. You could probably only seat two people in it comfortably.

      Gabriel also saw the two skeletal-looking horses that were attached to the reigns, they looked rather stronger than the other ones, drawing the student carriages. Their leathery wings flapped nonchalantly and as the horses grazed a bit before having to move to the castle.

      As he and Hermione stepped into the carriage, they left for the castle, the eerie horses drawing the carriage forth with tremendous speed. But even though they were going at least thirty, Gabriel didn't even feel a breeze.

      _The carriage must be enchanted. But it's weird going fast and not feeling any different than if you were walking.But these horses sure are fast, I wonder what this breed is called?_

      "Ms. Granger?" asked Gabriel.

      "Yes, Mr. Rayon? You wanted to ask something?"

      "Please, call me Gabriel. I hate it when people are too formal with me. But anyway, what breed of horses are these? I've never seen them."

      Gabriel noticed that Hermione's expression darkened slightly when he asked this. He started to wonder if he had said anything wrong.

      "They are called Thestrals, Gabriel." Hermione said, her voice sounding more saddened than before. "They're pretty, aren't they?"

      "Yes," Gabriel looked back at the Thestrals and nodded. "they're pretty in their own eerie way."

      "It's a sad thing that you can see them though." Hermione continued.

      "Oh? Why's that? Can't everyone?" Gabriel asked.

      "No. Thestrals are only visible to those that have seen someone die. I think that nowadays there are a lot more people that notice them."

      Gabriel thought about this, being very puzzled by this bit of information. He was very sure that he had never seen someone die. And yet, here he could see these creatures as if there was no reason at all for him not to see.

      "But let's not dwell on that." Hermione said, brightening up. "How do you think you will like it here at Hogwarts?"

      "It'll be great. I'm going to enjoy going to a real school for once." Gabriel said enthusiastically.

      "Yes, I heard about you being home schooled for three years. Why did your parents decide that?"

      Gabriel's voice fell slightly at this, but he didn't think that Hermione noticed.

      "Oh, with dad working at a Muggle hospital as a surgeon, he has to take care of a lot of the emergencies that come in. It leaves mom lonely a lot and she thought that seeing me go would be too much. I love her, so I complied." Gabriel had to tell people this more often (though he left out the Muggle parts, since people that used to ask him were Muggles themselves), so he lied very easily to her.

      "You're a good kid then. But they let you go this year?"

      "Well, my mother didn't feel as lonely anymore as she used to and she thought it would be good for me to go to Hogwarts. With some extra persuasion from Headmaster Dumbledore, my parents allowed me to enroll."

      "Well, you'll like it here immensely. I know I loved my time here. Just as long as you don't break any rules and study hard, you'll do great."

_      Aha, so that's why she smells like that. The dusty smell is from the books she's around often. And the static is the transfiguration magic that she keeps working with._

      In the meantime, they had arrived at Hogwarts. Stepping out of the carriage, they moved through the castle to what Gabriel presumed to be Dumbledore's office. He, on the other hand, was paying more attention to the interior of the castle than trying to remember the way.

      The inside of the castle was magnificent. It was all Gabriel imagined a magical, medieval castle to look like. Fantastic drapes running along the walls, suits of armor standing around, gorgeous paintings to look at. The fact that all these things acknowledged Gabriel and Hermione's arrival, didn't disturb Gabriel to much, even though on of the suits of armor startled him by clanking a greeting when he walked past it.

      Eventually, they arrived at a wall which had a gargoyle placed along it. Hermione stood next to the gargoyle and said: "Arctic Sweets". The gargoyle muttered an acknowledgement and swung aside to reveal a winding staircase leading up a large tower. After climbing all the way up, Hermione gave a slight knock on the door and then opened it.

      "Ah, welcome Gabriel," the hearty voice of Dumbledore, sounded as he saw the pair walk into his office. "welcome to Hogwarts. And thank you for retrieving the boy, Hermione."

      "My pleasure, Albus. It was no problem at all."

      And with that, Hermione left the office, leaving Dumbledore and Gabriel alone to talk to each other. Gabriel had taken the time to look around the office. There were a lot of interesting things to see in it. Lots of paintings of aged, snoring wizards were placed on the walls and lots of interesting devices with no apparent function littered the shelves, glowing and sparkling. He also noticed a bird perch on Dumbledore's office, but he assumed that the owl that sat there might have been out on an errand.

      "Now, Gabriel. I understand that my office might be very intriguing to a student, since most do not come here, but please sit down," said Dumbledore, indicating the comfy chair that stood in front of his desk. "Would you care for a Lemon Drop?"

      "Thanks sir," replied Gabriel, taking one of the yellow sweets from the bag that Dumbledore flourished in front of him.

      "Now, as you might know, Hogwarts does not often accept transfer students. This is not because we don't want them, but because there is hardly no reason to take them, as most students finish their education at the place where they started." Dumbledore readjusted his half-moon spectacles before continuing. 

      "And I'm still sorry to say that none of  other the magical schools is interested in setting up student exchange programs. But that all has no relevance at this moment. Now, I trust that Rachel told you about the Sorting?"

      "Yes sir," said Gabriel politely.

      "Now, I might understand if you wanted to have a private Sorting to avoid unnecessary attention." Gabriel shook his head slightly, which Dumbledore did notice, but he carried on. "But that wouldn't be possible, since the Sorting Hat has been rather grumpy after sorting people without singing his song and bluntly refuses to do that again. But I believe you will have no problem with standing in line with the first-years, correct?"

      "No, sir, no problem with that at all."

      "Perfect. I'm sure that you'll like it here at Hogwarts immensely. Now, to mo-…"

      Dumbledore was interrupted by a shrilly tone coming from the window behind Gabriel. He turned his head to see what Dumbledore was looking at and what made that sound, but saw nothing but the open window. Then, he felt a weight on his head and tiny talons nestling in his hair. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt, but Gabriel was surprised nonetheless. 

      _The hell?__ Why in the world is an owl perching on my head instead of on the bird perch. You'd think that Dumbledore would've trained it better. Wait… this doesn't smell like an owl. It smells like fire…_

      "It looks like Fawkes has taken a liking to you already, Gabriel." Dumbledore's voice sounded amused and a twinkle could be seen in his eyes.

      "Fawkes? This isn't an owl, right? It smells like fire."

      "That is correct. Fawkes is indeed no owl that I own, but instead a phoenix that I have befriended. And he is a dear friend, I might add."

      "A phoenix? That's nice. Now, why is it sitting on my head?"

      "I truly have no idea. Perhaps he thinks you're quite attractive?"

      Gabriel groaned.

      _Great, even the headmaster and a phoenix think I'm a girl. No, dammit! I'm not getting rid of my hair! I like it!_

He lifted his hand above his head and extended a finger. He felt the phoenix grip it playfully with his beak. He then drew his hand back in front of his face, gently taking the phoenix' head with him. Fawkes looked at him curiously from an upsidedown view, having stretched his neck to keep up with the hand and now facing Gabriel.

      "Hey Fawkes." Gabriel said to Fawkes, who in reply let go of his hand and let out a cheerful, shrilly twirp.

      "I'm not a girl, right?"

      Fawkes cocked his head a bit, as if examining his features closely, and seemed satisfied. He flew off Gabriel's head and settled himself on the perch by Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore smiled and continued talking.

      "Well, it seems that Fawkes has been convinced that you're not a girl. But to resume after this interruption, I want to speak to you about your condition."

      "You mean curse." Gabriel said, looking slightly crestfallen.

      "No, I mean condition, Mr. Rayon." Dumbledore saying his last name, made him sound more serious than Gabriel had heard him yet. "I know that you consider what you have a curse, but I myself am not convinced it is that yet. But I also cannot go as far as saying that it is a gift, for it may yet be either one."

      Bringing his fingertips together, Dumbledore looked at Gabriel. To him, the headmaster suddenly seemed to be more imposing than before. Gabriel began to shift slightly in his chair, feeling slightly awkward now. Dumbledore, noticing his discomfort, took the need for a reply away and resumed talking himself.

      "Now, I know that after your unfortunate incident when you were eight, you have never yet let such a thing happen. Else I would've heard about it one way or the other. But tell me, do you have a grasp of when you feel your other side emerging?"

      Gabriel had anticipated a question like this. It was one of the first things he wondered himself after he collected himself enough to think his curse through. But he had noticed that he grew anxious or exited at various times, ranging from times of emotional distress to the phases of the sun and moon.

      "Just that I'm affected by what's happening in the sky. Full moons get me more riled up than usual, though it's nothing dangerous. I just tend to be a bit hyperactive then. But I have to regain control whenever I get emotionally distressed…" Gabriel paused then, because he knew that what he was about to say next was rather odd. "and also when there is an eclipse. Solar eclipses seem to affect me more than lunar ones."

      "But there are less of those, which might be a good thing," acknowledged Dumbledore. "but it's good that I'm aware of these facts, since I can anticipate what might happen. But I have however every confidence that you will not lose control at any given time while you reside here in Hogwarts. But still, my door is always open to you if you want to have a talk. I'm sure you can get future passwords on your own behalf."

      "Thanks, sir." Gabriel had to grin at the last comment. It showed that the headmaster truly did anticipate all scenarios. 

      Gabriel was relieved though that the headmaster wasn't afraid that something would happen to his students because of Gabriel. Briefly he had feared that Dumbledore had changed his mind and would send him straight on home.

      "Now," Dumbledore said, regaining his happy expression once again. "I believe it is time for us to retire to the Great Hall. The rest of the students will be there shortly and you will have to join the first-years at the Sorting."

      "Right, sir. Mind if I walk along with you?" asked Gabriel. "I don't know my way around the castle yet."

      "Of course, Hermione already left to welcome the first-years. Well then, I ask you to follow me and try to pay attention to the route. I know that the castle is magnificent, but you might find it useful to know where my office is located in the future."

            Gabriel nodded as he and Dumbledore left the office and made their way to the Great Hall. Gabriel could already hear the voices of the students echoing from the stone walls of the hallway.

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Reviewer thanks:

**SSC** – You're my second reviewer since I reposted my story! Thanks a lot, I was almost thinking that I was writing this story for the enjoyment of my proofreaders alone.


	8. The Sorting

**Authors note:**

I neglected to come up with a Sorting song, since I'm absolutely horrible at all things musical or poetical. If anyone thinks it would be fun to make up one and send it to me, then I'll be glad to repost this chapter with the song if I like it. Also, I would accept songs taken from other stories, but kindly mention who the original author is in that case, so I can ask her permission (excuse me if the author in question is male, it seems that FF.net is mostly a female dominated society). Giving me a Sorting Song to use, will result in a chapter in your dedication ^_^

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**Chapter 7: The Sorting…**

      When they reached the Great Hall, Gabriel could feel a slight nausea coming up from the overwhelming smells. He quickly swallowed his queasiness and examined the Great Hall. It was just as magnificent as the rest of the castle, maybe even more due to the enchanted ceiling. It was reflecting the sky outside, which was truly exquisite at the moment. 

      The four large tables at the front of the Hall were where the students sat and there was another table on a raised platform at the end of the Hall to seat all the teachers. In front of the teacher's table, the new first-years were already waiting for the Sorting to begin, all of them looking extremely anxious and nervous. 

      At the beginning of the raised platform, Hermione stood next to a chair, holding an old hat. The hat looked shabby and worn, but Gabriel understood immediately that this was the famed Sorting Hat, which would decide in what the new students would be put.

      While he was walking down the middle lane to the group of first-years, Gabriel could already see most heads turn in his direction. Most of the students only saw him now for the first time and had no idea that he was going to come to the school. 

      Taking a look around, he saw that Helena was sitting at the near end of what he assumed to be the Hufflepuff table. She smiled at him and he returned the favor. But he noticed that there was no one sitting exactly close to her. They were all seated a bit further down the table, as if to avoid her.

      _I really wonder why people don't like her. She's sweet, not to mention a nice person to be around with._

Looking around he saw Gloria sitting at the Gryffindor table. She too smiled at Gabriel and gave a little wave. Gabriel didn't have the time to return it though, as one of Gloria's friends had already pulled her close and was no doubt questioning her about knowing him.

      Looking over the other two tables, he didn't see anyone that he knew or thought was worth thinking over. Which in this case included the three bullies that were pestering Helene, who were seated at the Slytherin . He noticed a larger boy sitting next to them, that was glaring at Gabriel with a malicious but also curious stare.

      _Must've heard what happened to his friends. Guess I'll get to meet him soon enough._

      By now Gabriel had reached the group of first-years. Only then did he notice the two heads with red hair. They looked even more anxious than most of the students.

      _Heh__, they're still worried about their little fur balls of hell attacking my face. I had already forgotten about that actually. Now, let's hear what Dumbledore has to say._

      Dumbledore stood in front of his chair, in the center of the head table and asked for silence. It was remarkable how quickly he got it, especially considering that most of the student body were still discussing Gabriel's presence in the school.

      "Welcome back to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, my students. And a big welcome to our new first-years, who from this moment on will enjoy their first seven years of magical education in this castle. Now, we will begin the sorting. Ms. Granger, if you would please take the honors?"

      Dumbledore sat down in his chair, while Hermione nodded at him and poked the Hat a tiny bit. The Hat seemed to awaken and almost looked as if it was looking around the room. Then suddenly, it burst into a song, describing Hogwarts and its founders, depicting the four houses as to what they entail and welcoming the new students and inviting them to be sorted.

After the song had finished, Hermione once more to the new students. She spoke then, not in the cheery voice that Gabriel had hear her use before, but in a serious stern voice that tolerated no disobedience. 

      "Now, when I call your name, you will come forward and sit on the chair. I will place Sorting Hat on you and it will decide in which house you will be. After you are sorted, kindly give the Hat back to me and take place at the right table."

      And with that, she called out the first few names on her list in alphabetical order. All the new students looked awkward wearing the Hat that was too big for their head, almost always giving a little start when it shouted their designated house. Then Gabriel noticed that they had already past the 'R', which meant that they have skipped him for now.

      _Odd…Is he trying to make this big a fuss about having a transfer student? Seems he really is glad that there finally is one._

      "Weasley, Lucy."

      The little girl whose cat had attacked Gabriel now sat on the chair. The Hat only sat on her head for a second before it shouted: "Gryffindor!" The girl let out a breath and smiled at the other redhead among the first-years. She then left for the Gryffindor table and sat down at a space that was big enough for two people, greeting those around her.

      "Weasley, Mike."

      Now the other redhead sat down on the chair. And just as quickly as with his sister, the Hat had designated him to be a Gryffindor. After giving the Hat back to Hermione, he made a beeline towards where his sister sat and seated himself next to her.

      The ceremony went on after this, until Gabriel was the only new student that hadn't been sorted yet. And then, Dumbledore rose from his seat and addressed his students.

      "Now, I have an announcement for you all. I have great pleasure to introduce to you all our new transfer student, Gabriel Rayon, who will join the ranks of fourth-year students. It does me great joy to see that there are students willing to extend their magical education beyond what they have grown used to for years. 

      "Now, I'll have to disappoint those that wanted to hear new stories about other schools. Before his enrollment into Hogwarts, he has received his education through home schooling. I have great faith in that you will all make him feel welcome here."

      Inwardly, Gabriel felt thankful towards the headmaster. He hadn't thought about it, but he realized that constantly having to say he wasn't from another magical school would be terribly annoying. Then, Dumbledore turned towards him.

      "Now Mr. Rayon, if you would please be seated. I'm sure that you are curious as well as to what house will be your residence."

      Gabriel nodded and sat himself down on the chair. When Hermione placed the hat on his head, it fell to just over his eyes. Being bigger than most of the first-years still didn't make him big enough to wear the hat properly. He gave a start when he heard the hat talking to him, though he was hearing it in his head instead of through his ears.

_      [[ What have we here? You were the one that they asked me to sort sooner if you wanted. Sorry about that, but I'm rather self-conscious about singing my song. ]]_

_      No worries._

Gabriel instinctively thought this instead of saying it aloud.

      _[[ Now then, let's see what you're ma-…]]_

      The Hat grew silent all of the sudden. Gabriel had no idea what was wrong with it, but waited patiently for some seconds. Then he thought that it was taking too long.

      _Hat?__ You still here?_

      _[[ Yes, yes…]]_

      The Hat sounded rather exasperated, out of breath. Like he was struggling against something.

      _[[ Y-you truly are something else, Mr. Rayon. I'm sure you aren't completely aware yet of what you can become, but I… I'll leave you to your own devices to handle that. But I know that you have a lot of courage and that you will need to nurture it. Therefore, I… place you in Gryffindor! _]]__

      The Hat shouted the last word out loud, cheerful as it had been with all the other students. But when Gabriel took it off, he held it in his hands for awhile, examining it. Though it didn't look any different from before, he knew something odd had happened and wondered if this also had to do with his curse.

      _Dammit__… why can't I just have a normal life. It would've been so much simpler if I didn't have this bloody, freaking, damn curse._

Gabriel scowled a little as he gave Hermione the Hat back, but she didn't comment on it. Gabriel walked to the Gryffindor table and only then noticed that they were applauding their new student, just like every table had when someone was sorted into their house. His mood grew better again, glad to know that at least he had some normality in his life.

      As he walked along the table, nodding some greeting as he went along, he sought out the one person there that he already had a conversation with. Gloria already saw him coming and scooted over a bit to let him sit beside her. And as he greeted her and met some of her friends, he knew that going to the school would be the best thing he had done yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_      ** You know, it's not nice to scare poor little spirits like that. **_

      The nine-tailed fox grinned as she admonished the black wolf playfully.

      _~~ Hey, it was you who dragged that 'poor little spirit' out of the hat and brought him here. Besides, I was just here to look mean and scary. ~~_

_      ** Well, you do that very well. Besides, I'm impressed you didn't rip his head off. **_

_      ~~ You wound me. I don't do that that easily, only when it's necessary to end something rather permanently. ~~_

The fox smirked at that comment, her nine tails swaying around her in a seductive dance, knowing about the brutal methods that her companion used to end severe matters permanently. Though she commended him for only using those when absolutely necessary.

      _** You know, I think Gabriel is going to end up like you in that aspect. He's rather blunt with things he doesn't like. **_

_      ~~ He's got your charm though. And he's paying for it already, it makes him look like a girl. ~~_

_      ** Bah, he should be glad, girls are much nicer to look at anyway. But I still think that spirit was a bit rude. Imagine, we only brought him here for a moment to get acquainted and to tell him that Gabriel is also our little boy and that he should take good care of him. And he freaks out! **_

_      ~~ To be expected. Even though he was stuffed with the knowledge and insight of those four wizards, he's still a lesser spirit. ~~_

The wolf yawned lazily after this statement and stretched out. His black fur gleamed in the eerie light as he lay down again. He looked concerned about something.

      _~~ You know… ~~_

_      **  What? **_

_      ~~ The higher-ups weren't glad with what we did to save the boy. ~~_

_      ** Ah, you were thinking that too. But I'm sure that whatever they want to send, Gabriel can take them head on. Besides, it'll be fun watching those stuck-up fools get frustrated. **_

The fox smirked almost evilly. The wolf just glared at her and closed his eyes. He thought about Gabriel's other form. That had been a totally unexpected side-effect of their actions to save him, but it seemed as though it wasn't that much of a problem. The boy would probably be alright. Gabriel was strong, just like him and his foxy companion.

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No reviewer thanks here, since I posted the two chapter simultaneously. See my previous chapter for details. Review, please?


	9. More people to be met

**Author Notes:**

Well, haven't updated in quite awhile… Everyone that was eager to read how the story will progress, thank Kapricia for holding a gun to my head (well, not really, but I seriously felt threatened by her review).

As for excuses, let me think of some. Well, I've been busy with university (being busy with obligated stuff sucks). 

I've also been busy with creating a yearbook myself with a team. This takes a lot of time, but the end result is so worth it. Nothing better than seeing something you contributed highly to coming oud in solid, hardcover book format. But it's a yearbook, so only available to peeps in my… what's the English word… study-society (closest translation I can come up with).

And lastly, I've been in an emotional rut for too long (I'm still in it, but recovering. Alas, the price we pay for love!). Emotional ruts are not conducive to writing or doing fun stuff at all.

Anyway, on to my new chapter. It's a pretty unoriginal 'meet the new friends'-chapter, so bear with me. Review replies at the bottom.

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**Chapter 8: More people to be met…**

      After being sorted, Gabriel walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Gloria.

      "Hi, Gloria," he said. "guess I'll be joining you then in Gryffindor."

      "Yup, it'll be nice, you'll see."

      But before they both got another word out, a blond girl that was sitting next to Gloria reached out in front of her and extended her hand. Gabriel recognized her as the girl who had grabbed Gloria for questions when she tried to greet him during his entrance.

      "Hi," she greeted happily. "welcome to Gryffindor. My name is Tina Heston."

      "I'm Gabriel Rayon," Gabriel answered akwardly, taken a bit aback at her enthusiasm.

      "Oh, I know," she responded. "I mean, we al heard about a transfer student attending before we even started this year. And we al heard your name when you were sorted."

      "I guess I'm being a bit conspicuous then?"

      "Yup, though I was surprised that Gloria already met you." She looked at Gloria with a grin on her face. "You'd think that after all the time we've known each other, she'd tell me if she met nice people. I mean, friends are supposed to share, aren't they?"

      Gloria blushed at the implication that she had wanted to keep Gabriel to herself. Gabriel found the situation rather amusing, already liking Tina. She obviously was the type of person that you do not feed too much sugar, lest they do irreparable damage to themselves and their environment. But Gabriel thought it was a bit mean to tease Gloria like that, so he cut in to explain.

      "I met her while shopping in Diagon Alley for my books. She told me that badmouthing Snape would be a bad idea as he's a professor here."

      This time, Gloria felt inclined to talk along as well, as they were now on safe territory. Safe being everything besides Gloria's taste in boys.

      "Snape is the one you see sitting at the left side of the Head Table. The one with sullen look and the extremely greasy h…"

      Gloria was interrupted because Dumbledore stood up again and addressed the students with a  clear, though strong voice.

      "Now, I have to bore you all with the necessary announcements before we start with the banquet. First of all, every student is forbidden to enter the Forbidden Forest without proper teacher supervision. Anyone feeling foolish enough to test the wisdom of this, might find himself going home in a casket." 

      The students shivered a bit at this, though they were obviously used to the Headmaster addressing this matter that way.

      "Also, our caretaker, Mr. Hogge, wants me to tell you all that on that Face-eaters, Soaking Flowers and Mini-trips are now added on the list of items forbidden within the corridors. If any students want to review the entire list, I suggest that you seek him out in his office and ask him about it."

      Dumbledore now paused a little to let the children moan at the fact that another few of their favorite toys have been blacklisted by their uptight caretaker.

      "And lastly, as most of you know, Professor Mandelin has retired from his teaching position at Hogwarts, having accepted a position at the Ministry of Magic. I'm sure we wish him all good luck on his new job. To fill the empty position in our staff, I have accepted Ms. Sankeur's application. She will henceforth teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts-class." The Headmaster turned to the women sitting next to Professor Snape and asked her, "Ms. Sankeur, if you would be so kind to give a few words at the beginning of your employment here at Hogwarts?"

      "Certainly, Headmaster," said Ms. Sankeur. 

      She stood up and waited for a little while until the excited murmurings from the students would quiet. Meanwhile Gabriel took a good look at this teacher. She looked young, just over twenty years old. She had a rather pale face and flaming red hair that reminded him a little of Julia. Instead of the usual teaching robes, she wore a red robe that fitted nicely around her upper body, being more like a dress than a robe. She also wore a black cape, giving her a very mysterious and eerie air. Around her neck a necklace could just be seen, glinting when the light caught it.

      Now that most students had taken a good look at her, she addressed them in a clear voice that carried over the entire hall.

      "I'll refrain from introductions, since the Headmaster has already mentioned my name. I'd like to say that I am delighted to be your new teacher and that I'm sure that we'll get along in my classes." 

      At this there was an applause from the students, as was customary when a new teacher arrived. After Sankeur sat down again, the applause quieted down and Dumbledore again addressed the student body.

      "And now, let the feast begin!"

      Two things happened at that moment. The first was the one that everyone expected, save for Gabriel. All the plates on the table were suddenly laden with plentiful and delicious dishes from which the students could eat their hearts delight until they could eat no more. 

      The second was that Gabriel's very sensitive nose received a battery of tantalising but nonetheless very strong scents of the aforementioned delicious food. He felt his stomach rising up to his throat and quickly clasped both his mouth and his nose in his hands in an effort to avoid hurling. Noticing that that didn't work all too well, he resorted to more extreme measures. The extreme right now being banging his head against the table in an effort to cause enough pain so he could concentrate on that instead of his stomach.

      It worked, though his sickness was now replaced with a very steady and extremely painful headache. Oh well, nothing a quick spell couldn't fix. Muttering a small pain relieving spell under his breath he took care of his headache and focused again on what was happening around him.

      Gloria and Tina were both looking at him oddly, Gloria looking rather worried and Tina as if he had grown a separate head. He noticed he had drawn the attention of a lot of other students as well.

      "What happened to you?" Gloria asked. "Are you sick?"

      "You're not some crazy psycho, are you?" asked Tina.

      Both Gloria and Gabriel glared at her, before Gabriel got to explaining why exactly he had been attempting to split his head on the table.

      "Sorry about that. I've got a sensitive nose and the food suddenly appearing surprised me. I thought I was going to hurl." Gabriel saw Tina drawing a look of disgust on her face. "So I banged my head to concentrate on something else than my stomach."

      "Oh." Gloria said simply.

      "You're weird." Tina concluded.

      "I'll take that as a compliment." Gabriel smiled.

      "But you're okay now?" Gloria asked.

      "Yeah, I'll manage. Now, I'll grab some of this food."

      And with that, the three fourth-years started to gather food on their plates. Gabriel mostly piled as much meat as he could fit on his, accompanied by some salad and potatoes. After munching through the first two chicken fillets he looked at the Head Table again. Seeing as he didn't about most of the teachers, he turned to Gloria and asked her about it.

      "Ah, I'll show you who they are. There's Dumbledore in the middle, but you already know him and Professor Granger. Then there's Professor Flitwick, the small one, our Charms teacher and Professor Sprout, she's the Herbology teacher. Next to them is Professor Vectra and Trelawney. They're our Astrology and Divination teachers. Professor Sinistra is over there, that's the Arithmancy teacher. There's also Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher. You'll remember who he is, even if he won't do the same thing about you."

      Gabriel nodded, trying to take in all the names. It wouldn't do to run into embarrassing problems because he couldn't remember his teachers. Meanwhile, Gloria continued her introduction of all the teachers.

      "Professor Snape is sitting on that far end of the table, next to Ms. Sankeur. You know, he's who I warned you about not badmouthing his book within his hearing range. And next to Ms. Sankeur is Professor Hagrid. He's our Care of Magical Creatures-teacher. You know, I wonder what kind of teacher Ms. Sankeur is going to be. She seems awfully young to be teaching DADA, she can't be older than twenty-five."

      The boy on the other side of the table, opposite to Gabriel piped in.

      "I at least hope she's going to be a change of pace from Mandelin," he said.

      "Come now," responded Gloria. "Professor Mandelin was an excellent DADA teacher."

      "True, but he always went on about the same subjects. I mean, there's only so much dark potions and minor dark spells you can defend yourself against. He never taught about the more serious stuff, like Unforgivables or Dark Creatures."

      The boy had short, black hair. A bit on the scrawny side, he still managed an air of confidence. Clearly he was comfortable with who he was and that he was quite happy to stay that way. His brown eyes were the only thing that were different in their demeanor, betraying a hint of curiosity that wouldn't easily be satisfied. He extended his hand over the table and Gabriel took it.

      "My name is John Diggory, pleased to meet you, Gabriel Rayon." He said, shaking Gabriel's hand in greeting.

      "Seems like I won't be able to tell anyone my name. They all know it already."

      "And if they don't, they'll soon know you as the New-kid-that-bangs-his-head-on-the-table. Quite a show you gave there."

      "Heh, not something I plan on doing often."

      "You shouldn't. They'd brand you a madman, if they haven't already."

      Gabriel once again began to eat his dinner again. He talked with John, Tina and Gloria throughout the rest of the meal and found them fun to talk to. They chatted about lots of things, mostly to do with Hogwarts and how things worked around the place. John asked Gabriel if he was going to try out for the Quidditch team, but Gabriel declined promptly, preferring to stay on solid ground.

      Somewhere through the eating and the conversation, Gabriel couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He looked around, but found that none of the students was looking directly at him, though he noticed that Helena turned away as soon as he set eyes on her. Apparently she had been watching him and Gabriel found himself smiling at the thought. But still there were eyes on him and he couldn't shake the feeling of unease… somehow it made his skin prickle and put him on edge.

      Turning his eyes on the Head Table, he found the source of his discomfort. Professor Sankeur was looking at him intently, not even bothering to hide it from him. Gabriel had the sudden feeling of being turned over and around in her hands, being assessed as to how she should handle him. He shivered.

      "Are you okay?" Gloria's voice broke through Gabriel's experience.

      Apparently Sankeur noticed, because she turned to Snape again and tried to engage him in conversation, while he seemed much more interested in his food and was pointedly ignoring her.

      "I'm okay, just got caught in a thought." Gabriel turned back to the conversation that Gloria, Tina and John were having. 

      The rest of the meal passed quickly and it was time for the students to go their respective dormitories. Gabriel followed his three companions to the Gryffindor Tower, until they arrived at a large portrait of a fat lady. The lady in question was eyeing them tiredly, while sipping some tea at her table.

      "Did any of you three catch the password?" asked John.

      "No, I forgot to ask one of the prefects." replied Tina, looking slightly crestfallen.

      Gloria just shrugged and said: "Honestly, you both are incorrigible. Good thing I caught it before we left the Grand Hall. Courage."

      The portrait swung open and the foursome walked inside. Gabriel was pleasantly surprised by the Common Room. There were several comfy couches and chairs to sit on and the carpet was plush, it's warm red and gold pattern looking inviting to just lay down on if the chairs all managed to be occupied.

      The fire roaring in the fireplace made sure that the room was warm. There was also big round tables with several normal chairs, so students could sit together and either play games or do their homework. Now, most of the seats were occupied by students that had arrived earlier. Gabriel was tired now and yawned.

      "Tired, mate?" asked John amiably.

      "Yup, can't wait to turn in. Too much stuff happening in one day for my taste, though I don't regret anything yet." replied Gabriel.

      "That's good. I'm feeling rather tired as well. All that good food settles heavily on the stomach. And what about you two ladies?"

      Gloria raised an eyebrow and Tina smirked slightly.

      "We're ladies now? Just last year we were no more than girls," said Tina. "Why the sudden change?"

      John blushed a little. Obviously he hadn't even noticed that he had called them 'ladies'. Gabriel smiled, seeing John at a loss for words was amusing. Even so, he was tired and opted to save him.

      "Just raging hormones, I'm sure," said Gabriel, think that saving him did not necessarily include keeping his pride intact. "Come on, I'm tired. I'll see you two ladies tomorrow?"

      "Yeah," said Gloria. "We'll be up and about tomorrow. And don't forget John, we've got DADA first thing."

      "Okay, okay. I only overslept once on the first day," whined John. "no need to keep badgering me about it."

      "Goodnight, Gabriel."

      Tina waved at him, before going up the stairs of the girl's dormitory. Gloria wished the boys goodnight also and left to join Tina. John just shrugged and nodded to Gabriel to come up with him to their own dormitory. It wouldn't have been hard to find anyway. Above all the dormitories hung big, bronze plaques with the year and the gender of the occupants.

      When Gabriel entered the dormitory, he was glad to see his trunk was already placed next to his four-poster bed. He had actually wanted to write Rachel and Julia a letter, but tiredness quickly beat him into submission and drove him off to his bed. He gave his goodnights to John and a nod to the rest of the fourth-years that already were there, chatting or getting ready to sleep themselves. Merely removing his robe and upper clothes, he crawled under the covers, drew the heavy curtains to drown out most of the sound around him and fell into a deep sleep.

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Review replies:

Wow, I got a freaking 9 reviews this time around. Admittedly, one reviewer reviewed three times, but still, it's kinda nice to see your inbox explode with review alerts all of the sudden. Especially when you think you keep being pushed down to page 10 whenever you update ^^;;

**Kapricia**: Well, I have you to thank for finally posting this chapter. It's been sitting on my laptop for a month now, but now it'll be on the internet forever! And thanks for finding my story original, let's see if you still think so after I write some more (I'm easily influenced by stuff I like). **Anashek**:         Well, I think I encountered some of your evil monkeys… but they were quickly banished by the people I usually hang out with, since they're scarier. Anyway, the answer is no. Gabriel is not able to see Thestrals because he was born while the mother was dieing. With a canon-reference, Harry couldn't see Thestrals either, even though he was physically there when his mother died (no explanation for this… I'm counting on him not actually seeing his mother die, but only seeing the green flash). Gabriel's reason for seeing Thestrals should be rather easy to figure out, but it's not because he's seen or experienced Death. **Shadow67**:       Thanks for the vote of confidence. Hope you like the new chapter, even though it's unoriginal. **Crystal Lighting**: Thanks for the encouragement. Later than I hoped, but it has arrived. Enjoy! **Ash17290**:       I know the curse is rather confusing. I haven't figured out all of the finer details, but it'll make more sense (or not) later on in the story. But remember, nothing like Gabriel has happened before, so the curse is not something common or logical. **Nalia**:  Three reviews? Well, I hope you read the rest of my chapters as well, since you stopped reviewing after chappie 3. Hope to see you back and enjoy! 

Also, review please.


	10. In every life there are enemies

**Author's notes:**

Okay, here's chappy 9. This chapter immediately displays my weakest point in writing. I really lack the ability to just sit down and plan my character ahead of time. You'll see that in the new characters I'll be introducing now. Apart from that, I like this chapter. Enemies are fun to introduce, even though it's very hard. Especially if you don't want it to be a too stereotypical enemy. Let's hope I succeeded.

Read on!

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**Chapter 9: In every life there are enemies…**

Gabriel woke up well before the others boys in his dorm. Seeing on his watch that is was still two hours before the beginning to the first class, he rummaged about quietly. He quickly picked out some fresh jeans and a clean, blue t-shirt and donned his school robes over them. He grabbed the books he needed and dropped them unceremoniously in his bag. Grabbing a quill and some extra papers, he headed down to the common room and wasn't surprised to find that is was quite empty.

The fireplace was still burning, no doubt by magic, but the fire was low, as not to heat the place up too much. Too much warmth was never a nice way to wake up. The place seemed a lot emptier at this time without the bustle of the students. Sitting in one of the chairs near one of the tables, Gabriel began to think about what to write his mother and best friend.

_Well, arriving safely seems like as good a place to start as any. And about being sorted into Gryffindor… well, without the part about the Sorting Hat acting weird. No sense in worrying anyone when it's not necessary._

When he was about halfway through his letter, there was still hour and half to the first Defense Against the Dark Arts-class. Thinking about the person that was supposed to teach him, Gabriel shuddered. He couldn't help but remember the way she was staring at him during dinner, studying him, assessing him. It made him very uncomfortable and he hoped that it wouldn't happen during the class again.

After Gabriel just finished his letter, he noticed someone coming down from the girl's dormitories. He was greeted with the sight of Gloria coming down the stairs, still looking rather sleepily.

"Hey, Gloria." Gabriel waved to his classmate.

"Uh… good morning, Gabriel." Rubbing the last sleep from her eyes, Gloria sat down next to him at the table. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Just slept well. Didn't feel like sleeping much more, so I came down. But I'd think that people should be starting to wake up around now?"

"They are. I just have the bad habit of setting an alarm clock and waking fifteen minutes before it. But the rest of the girls are still trying to decide what to wear under their school robes."

That made Gabriel laugh. Leave it to girls to worry about stuff no one is going to notice anyone. Who was going to was what they were wearing while wearing school robes?

"Nice to see that our girly antics make you laugh, Gabriel. What were you doing right now, writing a letter?" Gloria eyed the paper and quill that still lay on the table.

"Yeah, to my mom and Julia. Didn't get a chance last night, because I was too tired, so I just decided to work on it now.

By now some more students had come down from the dormitories and were relaxing a bit before going down to breakfast. Tina and John came down after awhile and they went with Gabriel and Gloria to get some breakfast.

"Good thing the others woke me up," sighed John. "if not, I probably would've slept through the entire breakfast and first class. I was beat."

"Well, good thing you did then," replied Gabriel. "I don't think teachers will take too kindly to students not showing up on their first classes."

"Well, you should've woken me up. I mean, you had to be up and about well before the others, to be chatting with Gloria in the morning."

"I was up a good time ago, you would've hated me for waking you at that time."

The group entered the Great Hall, where the tables were already laden with all kinds of tasty food. Gabriel had had time to get used to the scent while walking, letting it enter his nose gradually, together with all the other scents of the castle and his new friends. Without the huge impact the smells had when they appeared suddenly, he could enjoy them at his leisure, his stomach growling at the thought of the food. But still, Gabriel cast a look at the magnificent ceiling the Great Hall had. The weather outside must've been great, seeing how the ceiling showed a clear blue sky with only a few puffy clouds.

"You know," Tina mentioned to Gabriel, while nibbling her way through a sandwich. "it's funny. I don't even notice the ceiling anymore. Rather odd to see someone that never saw it before."

"Well, it's a great ceiling." smiled Gabriel.

"Doesn't it make you want to skip classes right now and just lie down in the grass?" Tina asked mischievously.

"And miss our first class of the year? Shouldn't that be considered academic suicide?"

"Well yes, but it would've been fun anyway."

"Next time I'll take you up on your offer. It will be nice to do absolutely nothing with a pretty girl next to me." Gabriel gave Tina a slight wink, to which she blushed a little, but still managed to grin.

Gloria and John watched the exchange with interest. Tina had always been the more outgoing one of the group, so they're were somewhat used to her antics when it came to new people. But this seemed more like flirting than just getting to know each other more.

"Well, are all of you done with your breakfast?" asked Gloria. John quickly stuffed his last sandwich in his mouth and nodded yes.

"Yup," said Tina in a rather giddy tone. "let's see what this new DADA-professor is all about."

That was something Gabriel wanted to find out as well. Miss Sankeur made him uncomfortable.

_I hope she won't make me feel that uncomfortable again. Especially not in a class. Come to think of it, I wonder what will be covered in DADA. My own tutor was a bit of a softy, so anything he taught about it was written down._

John's voice cut through Gabriel's train of thought. Apparently something that he just noticed by the classroom didn't please him at all.

"Oh great, we're together with the Slytherins again. Why is it that every year we have DADA with them?" John complained.

Among the group that was assembled before the DADA classroom, you could see about half of them wearing the green insignia that belonged to the house of snakes, clashing or complimenting with the red from the lion-insignia of Gryffindor the other students bore.

"That isn't that bad, is it?" asked Gabriel. Aside from the three bullies that he had running like little girls, he didn't think that all of them would be like that. All houses have less than amicable persons running around.

"Yes it is. They're horrible, always looking down on everyone that isn't in their house." tiraded John. "And most of them have a big problem with Muggleborns. You know that there isn't a single Muggleborn in that house?"

_ Now that I think about, those three are with that group as well. So is the other one that seems to be somewhat their leader. Seems like they're in my year._

Gabriel sighed. Maybe John was onto something anyway. Even if he wasn't, he was sure that he wouldn't be popular with Slytherin if those people had been spreading stories already.

"Don't mind John." Gloria said. "It's true that a lot of them aren't completely civil against Muggleborns, but they're not that bad…"

John made an extremely sour face.

"… all the time. But with John and me being Muggleborns, they give us a lot of lip. Which they really shouldn't, even I admit that. I just ignore them."

"Sounds like a real prejudiced bunch." Gabriel commented.

"You don't know the half of it." John said angrily. "And every damn year we have this class with them. Why can't we get mixed with some other House, like Hufflepuf. I wouldn't mind having them with us."

Seems like that bully-group had noticed Gabriel. The one that stayed behind last time stepped up towards him, the other two trailing behind him. Now Gabriel got a more proper look at them. There was nothing unusual about them, if you discounted the expressions they wore, which ranged from contempt to loathing and – Gabriel was glad to notice – a certain wariness. Seems like they haven't completely forgotten how their previous encounter had ended.

"So new kid," The more daring, black haired one spoke up. "didn't take you long to find the sorriest excuses of people to have as friends. First sticking up for the freaks of Hogwarts and then socializing with the mudbloods like it's nobodies business. But I guess that you couldn't be accounted for having good taste anyway."

"Stay away, Avery." Tina said, her voice being uncharacteristically cold. "we don't want any of your lip today. Can't you at least wait a few days before acting like the little rat that you are?"

"Like I would listen to a dumb broad like yourself, Lovegood. You never picked your friends well."

"Well, I can say the same to you. I mean, how do you account for having to associate with those two misfits behind you."

"At least we know what kind of people are good to hang around with. Not like those two mudbloods." One of the boys behind Avery spoke up this time.

John finally looked like he had lost his temper. Gabriel was surprised though, because he expected to have exploded before him. One thing he couldn't stand was this kind of verbal abuse about something that no one could do anything about. John grabbed his wand and pointed it at the boy behind Avery that spoke up.

"Say that again, Crabbe. I'll make you eat those words."

All three of the Slytherins had their wands trained on John, the fight being a big spectacle to those around them. The Gryffindors seemed to find it all bad, but weren't about to jump in to help them. The Slytherins looked with interest to what was about to happen and were thinking about the excuses they'd use to help their housemates out, if worst came to worst. All Slytherins except for one, namely the larger, raven-haired leader of the bothersome trio.

"Avery, Goyle, Crabbe. Stop this embarrassing display at once. They're not worth it."

The three bullies shut up. The voice had come from the larger boy that Gabriel saw with them at the Sorting. He spoke clearly, using a tone of voice that was clearly used to commanding the obedience of others. His features were well-defined, accentuated by his raven-colored hair falling down the sides of his face, making him quite good-looking.

_I can nearly smell the arrogance coming from him. He exudes it. This'll be big trouble if he's looking for it._

The black-haired boy sized Gabriel up, while Gabriel did the same with him. He was determined that this ended badly, it would end badly in his favor. Moving his body ever so slightly and nearly unnoticed, he positioned himself in such a way as he had practiced since he was a kid. His martial arts-training comes in handy in situations as these.

Something in Gabriel's demeanor must've been noticed by the other boy, who now found himself staring down at someone at equal height who did not cower nor displayed embarrassing outbursts when confronted with him. His grey eyes narrowed slightly as he himself at the ready, his right hand ready to grab his wand.

"So you're the new kid, Gabriel Rayon." The boy talked with clipped tones, betraying the fact that he didn't like Gabriel at all. "My name is Angelus Malfoy."

"You know my name already," Gabriel replied. "but at least I'm not at a disadvantage anymore, now that you've told me yours."

"I'll have to say that I agree with my three friends. Your choice of companionship is abominable."

"It is? I haven't noticed yet."

"Thick-headed, it seems. And I hear you've been saving damsels in distress already. A true Gryffindor. No wonder you got sorted into that house of fools. But allow me to give you a warning, should you decide to continue the heroics. Cross me and suffer the consequences."

Both boys glared at each other for a few more seconds, words no longer needed to show how much they loathed each other.

"Mister Rayon and mister Malfoy, detention for both of you if you wish to persist in this display."

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**Reviewer thanks:**

2 reviewers this time.

**Kapricia**** – **Thanks for the review and the encouragement. Feel free to hold more guns to my head, should you feel it necessary

**Crystal Lightning – **All those caps. Well, they're extremely pretty in context, since you seem so adamant in cheering me on. Thanks loads!

Hope you two liked the new chapter. Look forward to the next one pretty soon (it's half-written already). Also, if you have any questions about the storyline, don't hesitate to ask them. Questions help me think out my story better.

Review!


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Harry Potter, Adventure, Romance